What is MCX?

Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX)

What is it?

I'll look to several publicly available sources to describe this effort.

A visit to the official website is informative, especially to view the number of merchant brands currently signed up:

http://www.mcx.com/

Here is the line on that site describing what MCX is:

Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) was created by a group of the nation's leading merchants with a singular purpose:  offering consumers a customer-focused, versatile and seamlessly integrated mobile-commerce platform.

Development of the mobile application is underway, with an initial focus on a flexible solution that will offer merchants a customizable platform with the features and functionality needed to best meet consumers' needs. The application will be available through virtually any smartphone.

Which brands are on-board this effort?  Something like 45 brands from over 30 merchants representing more than $1 trillion (with a "T") in annual sales.  Wow.  Notice the verticals represented in this.  Restaurants, quick service, gasoline, technology retail, grocery, etc.  This is a huge effort.

I'll take up a moment to post some public timelines:

• March 2, 2012 - It was reported that Target and Wal-Mart had been working "for some time" on a mobile payments project
• August 15, 2012, MCX was announced and had merchants with $1UST already signed up
• July 18, 2013 the CEO, Dekkers Davidson, was announced for MCX

Here is a write-up by Mobile Commerce Daily on the effort:

mcx-makes-bid-to-win-over-small-merchants-as-rollout-date-nears

Here is one more view that should help:

mcx-and-the-giant-payments-networks

If you've been reading my blog and have seen posts on mobile payments, ISIS, MCX, etc. and haven't quite known what MCX is this post should help.  I've tagged this post with a couple labels.  You can click on them, below, and locate all other posts in my blog related to that tag.

Have a great week,

J.W. Gant