RaceTrac Latest to Join Merchant Customer Exchange

ATLANTA -- RaceTrac Petroleum Inc. joined mobile wallet provider Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) as a founding member, CSNews Online exclusively learned today.

RaceTrac joins 7-Eleven Inc.; Alon USA; QuikTrip Corp.; Sheetz Inc.; Wawa Inc.; Hy-Vee Inc.; Royal Dutch Shell plc and Sunoco Inc. as convenience store/gas station-related companies who have already taken ownership stakes in MCX, and will be members of the company's decision-making team.

"We believe mobile commerce holds the potential to greatly improve the shopping and payment experience of our guests," said RaceTrac CEO Allison Moran. "This is particularly true in the convenience and fuel channels, where the speed of the transaction is of utmost importance."

In addition, "it was critical to us that the mobile-payment solution we chose for RaceTrac be accepted at a wide range of other merchants frequented by our guests," she said. "This made MCX a clear choice."

Irving, Texas-based MCX has not publicly announced an official launch date, but its service will provide payment processing and store customer information in a mobile wallet via the cloud. Consumers will need to simply download a mobile application (app) to make their smartphones MCX compatible.

MCX will also utilize a barcode system, allowing most retailers to avoid costly point-of-sale system upgrades, according to the company.

Once live, any c-store retailer can utilize MCX's payment platform in exchange for a yet-to-be determined fee.

Founding members of MCX that are not c-store retailers include Bed Bath & Beyond; Target Corp.; Wal-Mart Stores Inc.; Dunkin' Brands Inc.; Sears Holdings Corp., parent to Sears and Kmart stores; Gap Inc.; ShopRite Supermarkets; and Darden Restaurants Inc., parent company to Red Lobster, Olive Garden and Capital Grille.

Combined, MCX partners operate approximately 80,000 store locations and process about $1 trillion worth of transactions annually.

RaceTrac Petroleum operates more than 350 c-stores in five Southeastern states.