Payments Platform Launches ‘Buy Pass’ to Streamline Retail ACH Programs

Digital payments infrastructure platform Buy It Mobility Networks has launched “Buy Pass,” a product designed to give merchants easier access to branded payment alternatives.

“Launching new solutions and payment options can be complex and resource intensive for merchants, especially as the pace of innovation and consumer demand for flexible payment options continues to accelerate,” the company said in a news release Wednesday (Feb. 16).

Based in Atlanta, Buy It Mobility’s (BIM) technology lets consumers pay directly from their checking accounts using merchants’ apps.

The company, born out of a now-defunct mobile wallet effort by several large merchants several years ago, said BuyPass lets retailers launch ACH and merchant-branded payments programs more quickly and seamlessly.

BIM forecasts its market share will grow to 45% of convenience stores and gas stations in the U.S. in the first half of the year, while adding merchants from other verticals, such as quick service restaurants and grocery, during the same period.

These businesses have have expressed interest in BIM’s technology but have been slow to adopt it due to technical complications, BIM Chief Executive Adam Frisch said earlier this week. Shell and Phillips 66 are among the companies using BIM technology at checkout, letting some customers paying 25 cents less per gallon than their counterparts paying with debit or credit cards.

Read more: Discover Bringing Pay-By-Bank Payment Option to US

BIM said the product is an extension of its strategic partnership with Discover, announced earlier this week. It will let BIM use Discover’s network and virtual cards to carry out merchant-branded ACH transactions.

“Recognizing the IT resource and infrastructure challenges at many merchants, BIM has partnered with Discover to reduce merchant integration lift down to dropping a URL into their apps and websites to access the BIM platform,” Frisch said.