A group of retailers, including Walmart, Target, 7-Eleven, Best Buy, CVS, Lowe’s, Shell, Publix, Sears, Alon, Darden, HyVee, Michael’s and Sunoco are teaming up to offer customers another mobile payments option. The initiative is called Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX).

The group of retailers behind MCX, which will grow, seems to think that they have an edge over mobile payments competitors (like Google, Isis, etc.), in that they are retail, and therefore understand customers habits better. They will use this knowledge of customers to run their kinds of offers and promotions.

“MCX will leverage mobile technology to give consumers a faster and more convenient shopping experience while eliminating unnecessary costs for all stakeholders,” said Mike Cook, corporate vice president and assistant treasurer at Walmart. “The MCX platform will employ secure technology to deliver an efficiency-enhancing mobile solution available to all merchant categories, including retail stores, casual dining, petroleum and e-commerce.”

“We believe MCX is uniquely qualified to offer the most comprehensive mobile payment options for consumers,” said Terry Scully, president of financial and retail services at Target. “By participating in MCX, merchants are in a position to effectively deliver innovative payment approaches that aren’t available today.”

“As merchants, no one understands our customers’ shopping and payment experience better than we do, and we’re confident that together we can develop a technology solution that makes that experience more engaging, convenient and efficient,” said Mark Williams, president of financial services for Best Buy.

There’s no launch date or CEO for the MCX yet, but the companies are reportedly looking for a leader. The group says it expects to announce additional members during the coming months.