Sionic Mobile this week announced the launch of Midtown Loyal, a mobile rewards payments initiative for merchants located in Atlanta’s Midtown district, according to a press release. Midtown Loyal uses Sionic's ION Loyalty and ION Rewards applications so that merchants can create compelling promotions for nearby smartphone consumers, accept secure mobile payments, and reward customers instantly based on their purchase amount.

"Given Midtown's young and techsavvy workforce and residents and concentration of restaurants, arts and culture, retail and entertainment venues, we believe Midtown is the perfect location to test drive Sionic Mobile's new rewards and payments initiative," Kevin Green, CEO and president of Midtown Alliance, said in a statment. "Midtown provides a rich environment and a living lab for cutting-edge initiatives like ION Loyalty and ION Rewards that can help enhance the customer experience."

Ronald Herman, CEO and founder of Sionic Mobile, added, "Midtown Atlanta is home to many leading finance and mobile technology companies and is quickly gaining a reputation as 'Innovation Central' in the U.S. market. We want to help further elevate Midtown Atlanta by connecting more merchants with more consumers through mobile devices than any other geography in the country."

Business owners who wish to participate in Midtown Loyalty can register at Sionic Mobile's website. Sionic Mobile is waiving its success fee to all Midtown Alliance members enrolling in ION Loyalty during the Midtown Loyal program. The technology works alongside any existing POS system, requires no upfront cost or additional equipment and typically may be setup in thirty minutes or less, according to the announcement.

Zocalo Mexican Kitchen & Cantina, a Richard Sandoval restaurant located at the intersection of 10th Street and Piedmont Avenue, was an early ION Loyalty adopter and is now participating in Midtown Loyal. Soon, Midtown residents and visitors will download and use the ION Rewards app to view Zocalo promotions, pay with the app at the table or bar and receive IONs instantly based on their check amounts. IONs spend like cash at ION merchants (1,000 IONs = $1.00) and never expire.