Merchants need to move more quickly to install and bring on line NFC terminals so that they can accept payments using platforms such as Apple Pay and Google Wallet (though I haven't yet researched how the new Google Wallet works sufficiently to be sure that it's a good option from a security standpoint). Using those platforms can't eliminate all fraud or any chance that thieves will be able to steal your credit or debit card information. There will still be the potential for people to steal your information in other ways, to include when you don't use, e.g., Apple Pay because a particular vendor isn't set up to accept it. But they make the situation much better and make it all but impossible for a thief to skim your information or hack the merchants computers to get it (when you use the platform rather than the credit card itself).
The problem is merchants' interests and consumers' interests aren't completely aligned on this front. For consumers Apple Pay (and services that work the same way) is a win-win. It increases security and privacy, not to mention convenience. But from a merchant's standpoint, they don't want that privacy for the consumer - they want to be able to track purchases of particular users and make use of that data. Some of them also want, for various reasons (including to avoid the fees they are charged in connection with credit card transactions), to get their own collective mobile payments platform - CurrentC - into common use. It would be better for merchants but, in most regards, a poorer option for consumers. I don't think it will catch on to a great degree. As people understand how it works as compared to how things like Apple Pay work, they'll understand that the latter are more in their own interests and prefer those options. But as it is many merchants are still holding out hope of being able to make CurrentC a popular payment option. So they're dragging their feet on getting set-up (or just choosing to) allow NFC-initiated payments from the likes of Apple Pay and Google Wallet. Consumers need to put more pressure on more of them to do that sooner.
