Apple Pay struggling to get into Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT)

After its launch last Monday, Apple Pay was expected to be present at most retail stores in the country. However, the new mobile payment system is facing much opposition by retail store chains in US, especially Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT), which is essential for Apple Pay to prosper as a conventional payment system.

Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) is one of the largest chain of superstores in the country, and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is dying to get its Apple Pay payment system into it. It is estimated that over $36 million is spent at Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) every day, and over 450,000 unique visitors visit the retail chain stores every day. For Apple Pay, this is a potential gold mine, and a market which must be tapped.

The list of retailers accepting Apple Pay in their stores seems to be shrinking, with many outlets dropping the service only a week after signing up for it. According to Apple Pay website, the service is now being accepted at only 34 retailers, one of which is Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) itself. Out of these 34 retailers, 8 are under one brand name: Foot Locker (NYSE: FL). So, really, Apple Pay is available as a payment method in only 26 companies.

Having initially jumped on-board, CVS (NYSE:CVS) and Rite-Aid (NYSE:RAD) dropped Apple Pay within a few days of accepting it. Both the drug store chains stopped accepting all NFC payments this Saturday, including Google Wallet, at all their stores nationwide. CVS and Rite-Aid are shifting to a new payment system, CurrentC, which is a mobile payment app due to launch in the first half of 2015.

Apple Pay came out with much promise as an evolved NFC payment system compared to Google Wallet.

Although Google Wallet came out much earlier in 2011, it has not been able to garner much attention in the US till date, with only a small percentage of consumers shifting to the mobile payment system. The reason behind Google Wallet’s slow and declining adoption by users is its poor acceptability in stores, with only a few stores accepting the payment system.

Now Apple Pay seems to be facing the same demise, with declining acceptability at major retail chains in the country. Retailers seem more interested in CurrentC, a payment method which is due to come out in a few months.

CurrentC, when launched, will be a mobile app capable of making payments for the user on all retail outlets which accept it. The user will have to connect his/her bank account to the CurrentC mobile app, and then, through the app, will be able to make payment. The app will not accept debit/credit cards. It will, however, accept other prepaid forms of accounts such as PayPal.

Retailers anticipate CurrentC to be a better method of mobile payment than Apple Pay, as CurrentC will provide retailers with user data relevant to the transaction, information which Apple Pay doesn’t give out.

However, the war is not yet lost. According to John Gruber, a tech expert and writer, people will not shift to CurrentC as it will be easier to use their credit cards than to launch a mobile app and make payments through that. This is where Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s Apple Pay has a huge advantage. “With Apple Pay, you just take out your phone and put your thumb on the Touch ID sensor,” he says.