Imapctorg Uses Zipmark in No-Interchange Mobile Wallet

Impactorg, a consortium developing mobile payments products for merchants, partnered with Zipmark Inc. to use its digital check service to streamline consumer reloading of its mobile wallet.

With Zipmark's service, consumers are able to attach bank accounts to the Impactorg mobile wallet. Consumers can then use their smartphones to pay at merchants that accept Impactorg's wallet.

Impactorg also announced a business-to-business mobile payments program, created as an alternative to check and card payments. The B2B program creates a mobile wallet without interchange fees, offsetting the average 2.5% cost.

Impactorg is made up of more than 30,000 small and medium-sized businesses, including Dunkin' Donuts, Valero and Chevron.  Similar to the Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX), the mobile payment venture led by large retailers such as Wal-Mart, Target and Lowe's, Impactorg offers a retailer-driven mobile wallet.

"The overall payment ecosystem must be disrupted to create comprehensive change," says Sean Kumar, CEO of Impactorg, in a June 11 press release. "Impactorg or MCX really should not be seen as champions of interchange-free payments, but as champions of comprehensive reforms."

Zipmark offers online transfers as an alternative to checks. The New York-based company recently partnered with processor Vantiv Inc., to offer its digital check system to more than 400,000 merchants.

"We are excited to be working with an organization such as Impactorg that is truly making advancements in merchant loyalty through a unique product that enables payment innovations like Zipmark," says Jay Bhattacharya, CEO of Zipmark, in the release.