National Payment Card Association Rebrands, Hones Focus

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. — National Payment Card Association rebranded itself as ZipLine and subsequently formed a partnership with P97 Networks.

Coconut Creek-based ZipLine, a provider of mobile and card-based decoupled debit (ACH) payment solutions, said the name change will allow it to focus on next-generation payment solutions and services that deliver compelling value to consumers.

“Our old brand implied card-based solutions for the most part, but with successful mobile payment and loyalty initiatives, we began to consider alternative branding," ZipLine CEO Stephen Goodrich explained. "We are a progressive company and want a name that reflects this. ZipLine implies action. It speaks to speed and connectivity.”

Greg Parker, CEO of The Parker Cos. in Savannah, Ga., applauded the name change: "Steve and his team are making things happen. They've been an invaluable partner to Parker, helping us lower acceptance costs and engage more effectively with our customers. We like the new ZipLine branding and what it conveys."

As for Zipline's new partnership with P97 Networks, it includes a bilateral certification of interfaces and collaboration to accelerate mobile commerce deployments to oil company and retail merchants. P97 is the developer of PetroZone, a cloud-based mobile commerce and behavioral marketing platform to the convenience and fuel retailing industry.

“Retail fuel merchants can now choose a mobile solution with confidence by selecting PetroZone, a world-class mobile commerce platform, combined with ZipLine’s ACH payments platform for their mobile transactions,” said Goodrich. “Regardless of a retailer’s legacy POS [point-of-sale] systems, PetroZone’s mCommerce technology supports ‘site to cloud’ integration. Our collaboration provides an ‘on-demand’ rapid signup process linking ZipLine ACH to PetroZone to save consumers time and create immediate savings at the pump."

Separately, P97 also announced that its Microsoft Dynamics AX R3 hosted and managed POS with the PetroZone Retail Fuels Module is now available for deployment to oil companies and retail merchants. The new POS solution was revealed during a private reception last week at the 2014 NACS Show in Las Vegas.

“Oil companies and convenience retail and fueling merchants are facing unprecedented challenges in terms of delivery models, competition, compliance, funding and an increased focus on outcomes,” said Don Frieden, CEO of P97 Networks. “The industry is looking for a way to effectively address these issues and has been impeded by legacy systems."