Walmart

Consumers in Columbus, Ohio, are being given a new option for mobile payment.

CurrentC, the mobile payment application from retailer-backed consortium Merchant Commerce Exchange, is now being piloted at stores in Columbus. Major retailers currently participating in MCX include Walmart, Sam’s Club, Sears, Target, CVS and Kmart.

MCX briefly announced the Columbus beta test on the CurrentC webpage, with few details. Reuters reports that 12 major retailers are testing the service at 200 store locations, and the test may be expanded in early 2016.

There has been a bit of controversy lately regarding Urban Outfitters' recent request that some of their salaried employees “volunteer” to fill normally hourly roles in fulfillment centers and retail outlets. The labor community and their activist friends have been crying foul over what they perceive is the manipulation of salaried junior managers by forcing them to work “hourly” jobs and getting no additional pay or benefits.

It's changing of the guard time at Chico's FAS.

After what it called an extensive search, the retailer named industry veteran Shelley Broader as president and CEO, effective Dec. 1. She succeeds David F. Dyer, who will become vice chair of the Chico's board.

Broader brings over 25 years of experience to her new position. Most recently, she served as president and CEO of Walmart's EMEA region, responsible for retail operations and business development across Europe, the Middle East, Sub-Sahara Africa and Canada.

Walmart wants to use drones to check warehouse inventory and assist with curbside pickup and delivery services, and has applied for permission from regulators to do so, according to CNBC. “Drones have a lot of potential to further connect our vast network of stores, distribution centers, fulfillment centers and transportation fleet,” company spokesman Dan Toporek told CNBC. “There is a Walmart within five miles of 70% of the U.S.

Walmart is launching a new initiative with InComm and Pursuant Health that allows health plans to promote health risk assessments at kiosks in Walmart stores.

InComm, a leading prepaid product and transaction services company, and Pursuant Health (formerly SoloHealth) announced the partnership at the 2015 Money 2020 Conference in Las Vegas.

Walmart is launching a new initiative with InComm and Pursuant Health that allows health plans to promote health risk assessments at kiosks in Walmart stores.

InComm, a leading prepaid product and transaction services company, and Pursuant Health (formerly SoloHealth) announced the partnership at the 2015 Money 2020 Conference in Las Vegas.

Consumers will be able to more easily find and download retail e-commerce apps from the Apple App Store just as the holiday shopping season heats up.

Apple will launch a new category called “Shopping” on the App Store on Nov. 5. The category will include e-commerce apps from retailers such as Amazon, Walmart, Target and eBay. Also included will be apps from digital coupon and deal providers such as RetailMeNot and Groupon, as well as price comparison apps such as ShopSavvy.

The mobile payment arena keeps getting more crowded.

Two weeks after U.S. bank Capital One partnered with MasterCard and Visa to offer contactless mobile payment capability in its Capital One Wallet app, another major bank plans to offer a mobile payment app.

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. is launching Chase Pay, a tokenized mobile payment service for in-store, in-app and online purchases. Interestingly, Chase is partnering with MCX, a retailer-backed mobile payment consortium, as its premier partner.