CurrentC, the mobile payment platform backed by leading retailers such as Walmart and Target, is set for a US debut in the next few months, according to PC World.

If the platform, which has been developed by the retailer-backed consortium called MCX, follows this schedule then it will likely arrive in mid-2015.

Already rival Softcard has come and gone via a merger with the struggling Google Wallet.

Apple Pay, which launched last autumn, will have had a significant lead by the time of CurrentC’s debut.

CurrentC started a small trial last year and is being tested in several undisclosed markets around the US, although the participants are only drawn from employees of MCX member companies.

And the initial mid-2015 launch will only be in a single, unspecified market. The location “will be determined based on a number of factors, including retail support, infrastructure and consumer population,” said MCX.