Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX), the consortium of leading US retailers which plans to launch its own mobile payment service, has picked Gemalto to supply its mobile wallet.

The wallet will run on the vendor’s platform and Gemalto will also supply a wallet app as well as development kits so MCX members can include wallet functionality within their own apps.

The initial deployment will primarily use barcode and cloud-based technology to enable users to make payments with their handsets.

Members of MCX include Wal-Mart, Gap, 7-Eleven, Best Buy, Target and Dunkin’ Donuts. The venture was unveiled in August last year.

The choice of Gemalto, a leading supplier of mobile payments system, has been mooted for some months. The vendor’s other customers include Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, Telecom Italia and Isis (an MCX competitor).

The vendor’s expertise makes it “the ideal partner” to develop a mobile wallet “worthy of the stature of merchants backing MCX”, said Dodd Robert (pictured), an MCX executive.