JPMorgan Chase & Co said on Monday it will soon launch CHASE PAY, its own competitor to Apple Pay that will allow consumers to pay retailers using their smartphones in stores. MCX - which includes retailers such as Walmart, Target, Best Buy and Shell - will be Chase Pay's premier partner. The largest U.S. bank believes its smart phone application has one key advantage: the caliber of retailers it has brought on board. Apple's Apple Pay's website lists Best Buy in its "Coming Soon" section but has no mention of Wal-Mart.

Chase signed up the Merchant Customer Exchange mainly by promising to cut retailers' costs. Whenever a consumer pays for something with plastic, the retailer pays fees to banks and credit card networks to process the transaction.

Chase says it is willing to accept a lower fee for Chase Pay transactions than for other transactions, and hopes to make up the difference by getting more volume over its network.

Chase Pay uses technology that many merchants already have ? the same technology used to scan gift cards. It will be able to connect a merchant?s loyalty program directly into the payment experience.

Chase Pay uses tokenization technology in store, in-app, and online. It will work on virtually all smartphones, meaning that consumers will be able to pay with smartphones at places like gas stations or drive through windows.

In certain locations, like restaurants, consumers will be able to use their smartphone to take a picture of a receipt and pay with Chase Pay.

Chase Pay will be available in mid-2016 to Chase?s customers across its 94 million credit, debit and pre-paid card accounts.

The bank said it would continue working with Apple Pay and other services even as it builds a rival.

Chase Pay is just one of a series of companies trying to become the go-to payment technologies, including Apple Pay, Samsung's Samsung Pay, and Alphabet's Android Pay.