M-payment: US Retailers Founding MCX

• Several leading US retailers, including 7-Eleven, Alon Brands, Best Buy, Shell, Sunoco, Target or even Wal-Mart, have just founded their Joint Venture, named Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX), designed to set up an alternative mobile payment and loyalty solution. The dedicated app is underway and should be made available through all Smartphones.

• MCX has not disclosed any technical hints but its aim explicitly is to favour the m-commerce sector though encompassing all sorts of added value services (payments, rewards, loyalty, discounts, etc).

• According to Walmart, MCX would welcome all distribution players: retailers, restaurants, gas stations, e-merchants, etc. The JV is already in contact with several banks, and plans to announce other members during the months to come.

Source: Press release

• This long awaited initiative (see March 2012 Insight) from the US retail sector, standing out as a milestone in the US m-payment industry, is here confirmed as these giants namely are in process of creating their own mobile payment option.

• The initial members serve nearly every Smartphone-enabled US customer and account for about one trillion dollars in annual sales, which may set their plans ideally as competitors head forth from all sectors (mobile carriers, banks, manufacturers, etc.). Through this initiative, these giants may also decrease their card fees.

• According to Gartner, the World market of mobile payments might exceed the expected 172 billion dollars this year and reach 600 billion in 2016. These figures are further stressed by Juniper Research as they indicate that mobile sales of physical goods may account for about 4% of retail transactions and, more importantly, for over one trillion dollars in revenue by 2017.