Mocapay is helping merchants extend their brand's loyalty programs to consumers on the go.

The company has launched a mobile gift card iPhone application to help merchants with existing plastic gift card programs go mobile. Mocapay provides three modes of consumer interaction including SMS, mobile Web/WAP and now a mobile application.

"Mocapay wants to offer our merchants the most comprehensive solution in the marketplace for mobile payments and marketing for gift and loyalty," said Kevin Grieve, CEO of Mocapay, Boulder, CO. "The launch of the iPhone application adds an additional mode of mobile consumer access to our existing SMS and mobile Web browser solutions.

"Mocapay enables merchants to extend their brand as well as their gift and/or loyalty program to the mobile phone, while providing an even richer customer experience," he said.

Mocapay provides a mobile commerce platform that supports integrated mobile payments, marketing and distribution at the point-of-sale.

The company delivers direct marketing opportunities and customer loyalty to merchants while providing consumers with the ability to transact securely with their mobile device and receive real-time promotions from retailers.

The iPhone application is available in the iTunes App Store.

All three modes of mobile payment, SMS, WAP and the iPhone application, enable mobile gift account holders to pay at the point-of-sale, access their account balance and transaction history, search for locations and reload their card account balances, all from their mobile phone.

Mocapay's strategy is to create an additional mobile marketing and payments channel.

One example in the petrol/convenience retail vertical is ShortStop, a Conoco-branded store, which launched its mobile gift program with Mocapay in November (see story).

In comparison to their existing plastic gift program, ShortStop recorded mid-single-digit consumer adoption rates of mobile gift, high-single-digit mobile transaction volumes and low-double-digit mobile gift load amounts.

ShortStop will be introducing a mobile loyalty program with Mocapay in the near future.

Mocapay will collaborate with its new and existing merchant base to promote the iPhone application for mobile payments and marketing via a combination of in-store and off-premise marketing programs.

Mocapay has built a set of industry best practices for gift card programs, which it follows with each its merchant customers.

In addition to the iPhone application, Mocapay will be introducing its BlackBerry application for select handset models in the third quarter of this year.

"As the mobile payments and marketing space evolves, we strive to provide a comprehensive solution for both our merchants and their customers," Mr. Grieve said.

"The addition of Mocapay to the iPhone enables our merchants to provide a rich experience, with the added convenience of mobile payments," he said.