Email addresses stolen from new mobile payment system, CurrentC

CurrentC, the new mobile payment system set to take on Apple Pay and Google Wallet, have already ran into a bit of controversy it seems. Early testers of the app were recently sent an email explaining that their email addresses may have been stolen.

Backed by the Merchants Consumer Exchange (or MCX), CurrentC is a brand new mobile payment system created to rival the most popular payment networks. It’s funded by Walmart, Best Buy, the Gap, and more, and aims to bypass extra credit card fees, while connecting straight to your bank account. It has recently been promoted as a more secure form of mobile payment, though this latest ‘hack’ on their serves casts a little bit of doubt on that idea.

Early adopters of CurrentC received an email yesterday, which yielded some unsettling news. The email reads:

Thank you for your interest in CurrentC. You are receiving this message because you are either a participant in our pilot program or requested information about CurrentC. Within the last 36 hours, we learned that unauthorized third parties obtained the e-mail addresses of some of you. Based on investigations conducted by MCX security personnel, only these e-mail addresses were involved and no other information.”

The email explains that CurrentC would never ask users any extremely personal information, like bank account passwords, social security numbers, or any other financial information. If users are to receive messages asking about any of this information, know that it did not come from the CurrentC team. A PR rep from the company goes on to say,

…Many of these email addresses are dummy accounts used for testing purposes only. The CurrentC app itself was not affected. We have notified our merchant partners about this incident and directly communicated with each of the individuals whose email addresses were involved. We take the security of our users’ information extremely seriously. MCX is continuing to investigate this situation and will provide updates as necessary.

The only information that the hackers have are email addresses. While this isn’t a positive situation in the slightest, at least more sensitive information was kept out of the hackers’ hands.

We’re sure we’ll hear more from CurrentC in a statement sometime very soon. But isn’t it a little ironic that, in the midst of creating a “more secure form of mobile payment”, a scandal like this happens?  What’s to come of CurrentC is unknown, but they may take awhile to bounce back and win back the trust of its early adopters.