Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX), a retailer-backed consortium, received a lot of attention this weekend when CVS and Rite Aid suddenly stopped accepting payments from systems like Google Wallet and Apple Pay. The two pharmacists reportedly made the move in solidarity with MCX, which is developing its own mobile payments system called CurrentC. CurrentC is set to launch in early 2015, although the app is already available.
On Wednesday, however, people who signed up to be on the forefront of the CurrentC launch were sent an e-mail saying that their e-mail addresses had been stolen.
“Thank you for your interest in CurrentC,” the e-mail read. “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.”