Target reported to be working on its own mobile payments system

Target’s rivals are traditionally thought of as Wal-Mart and Amazon, but the big-box discounter is hoping to take on the likes of Apple, Google and Samsung with its own mobile payments system.

According to Reuters, Target is in the early stages of developing a mobile wallet. The wire service cited three unnamed sources, two of whom said it could launch as early as next year.

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“Target’s team has taken some important decisions such as partnering with credit card companies and they are in favor of processing transactions using scanning technology to communicate with payment terminals,� the story said.

The news comes days after Wal-Mart announced that it was building its own mobile payments service.

Interestingly, Target and Wal-Mart both still belong to the Merchant Customer Exchange, a consortium of retailers that is jointly building CurrentC, a mobile express-checkout service. Kmart, Kohl’s, Sears, Rite-Aid, Gap, CVS, Lowe’s and other retailers belong to the Merchant Customer Exchange.

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Although the systems being built by Wal-Mart, Target and Merchant Customer Exchange could pose a threat to those of major tech companies, mobile wallets have not yet taken off the way many had hoped. With only certain retailers available on each platform, customers have been slow to adopt the new technology.

Twitter: @byandreachang

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