The so-called payments war between MCX/CurrentC  and Apple Pay is reaching a fever pitch — but one of the fighters hasn’t even shown up on the field, yet.

The battle has reached the pages of The New York Times, which today reports that retailers are in something of a pickle, refusing Apple Pay transactions for which consumers have shown an affinity. As many as 3 million people may have signed up for Apple Pay, according to reports, rather than a the 1 million initially reported.

“It’s particularly a problem for Target,” said Nick Holland, senior payments analyst with Javelin Strategy & Research. “They may be the biggest candidate to jump ship from CurrentC.”

Target has a partnership with Apple for online sales, but currently does not accept it at the point of sale, and in the wake of the credit card breaches, this could be a PR problem, as Apple Pay looks to be the most sophisticated and safest form of payment out there. Consumers won’t understand why some stores refuse to accept Apple Pay, Holland said. Rite Aid and CVS look particularly bad, having allowed Apple Pay payments before shutting them off and taking a beating in the media for doing so.

It should be noted that MCX comes with an exclusivity clause: stores that accept MCX can only accept MCX and not other forms of mobile payments. Members of the MCX consortium include Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Gap, Rite Aid and CVS.

“The value proposition of MCX has always been cheaper transactions,” Holland said, “but it remains to be seen whether the delta will make up for the loss in Apple Pay transactions.” And beyond mere numbers is the halo effect of looking cutting edge and being with the “cool kid at the prom,” Apple.

CurrentC has some attractive features, such as using ACH transactions to avoid card fees. This is great for merchants, but irrelevant to consumers. Apple is betting that consumer preference matters more than the retailers. (We think that’s at least a questionable bet.) One thing MCX could do to win over customers, Holland speculated, is to offer discounts for CurrentC payments, as gas stations do for cash.

CurrentC also uses QR codes, which look old-fashioned next to NFC.

“It looks to be NFC’s time now,”Holland said. “When all those terminals are updated for EMV — and they have to be — they will have contactless built in.” And now CurrentC is looking for retailers to install QR readers, too?

With the holidays approaching, the pressure is on MCX to get its solution into the wild.

“Apple Pay is making MCX look draconian and Luddite,” Holland said. “If they don’t hit the market soon, they will start to see defections from the consortium.”