MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.—Target Corp is reported to be in the early stages of developing its own mobile wallet.
The news comes shortly after Walmart introduced Walmart Pay in early December. A number of payments analysts have predicted that Target would be next to create its own digital wallet.
Reuters stated that while it is difficult to predict when the retailer might introduce the new payments solution, it could happen in 2016.
Reuters reported that Target's team has made some decisions, including to partner with credit card companies, and that they are in favor of processing transactions using scanning technology to communicate with payment terminals.
Target has not tested the wallet in its stores so far, the news outlet stated.
The introduction of Walmart Pay, and now Target’s reported move, raise questions about the viability of CurrentC, the digital wallet platform from the Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) that has yet to be launched. MCX was formed to bring together many large retailers under one digital wallet solution.
Target spokesman Eddie Baeb told Reuters that the retailer is testing CurrentC in a few stores but it is also exploring additional mobile wallet solutions. He declined to comment on whether Target was developing its own mobile payment service, Reuters stated.
"Target is a participant of the MCX and we are testing its CurrentC mobile wallet with guests as part of a pilot in Columbus, Ohio," Baeb said.