JPMorgan Chase announced a really cool idea today. Rather than use cash, check, or physical credit card, why not use a single service to substitute for all those methods from a mobile device? Knowing that consumers clearly want this and have never heard of anything like it, the banking giant announced Chase Pay, which will indeed be a mobile payments service that ties into Chase bank and credit card accounts. All kidding aside, this looks like a real dud.

Beside the fact that it looks at first blush like an imitation of the similar Android, Apple, and Samsung Pays, you will only be able to use your Chase accounts, should you be one of the 50% of American households that has one. And if you liked the idea of payments via NFC or MST (in the case of Samsung Pay), that's too bad; Chase Pay will use QR codes that will be scanned by cashiers. Seriously, this sounds like a nightmare.

But it only gets worse. To bolster support for the service, Chase Pay is partnering with MCX, the group of retailers that includes Wal-Mart who backed the currently-in-beta CurrentC mobile payments platform. This will get Chase Pay accepted at MCX retailers, but some of them will require Chase Pay to be accessed within the CurrentC app, according to reports from the announcement today. Some MCX retailers will not require this extra step, only adding to the confusion.

Speaking to potential retail partners, Chase boasted that they will charge fewer transaction fees than competitors, though there were no specifics offered. Chase Pay is expected to launch sometime in 2016, per their announcement. We'll all be waiting with bated breath, I'm sure.

PRESS RELEASE

Source: Chase

Via: re/code