The U.K.-based mobile payment provider Zapp has joined forces with three payment providers to offer mobile payments to merchants and customers. Optimal Payments, Realex and SagePay will work with Zapp's digital- and mobile-first approach to payments, Zapp said, letting merchants benefit from higher conversion, lower cost and more secure checkouts.

The announcement follows the release of research by Zapp showing that greater cooperation between financial institutions, merchant acquirers and retailers is needed if consumers are to adopt mobile payments widely, the company said in a news release.

The research showed that:

• 70 percent of consumers said complex up-front set-up processes were a barrier to mobile payment adoption.
• 70 percent cited the difficulties of paying people who are not part of the same mobile payment scheme.
• 80 percent said not enough banks and retailers can accept payments.

The company said the new announcement along with earlier news of a strategic partnership with WorldPay means it will have more than 60 percent coverage of U.K. merchants by 2014. Zapp and the payment service providers will work to roll out Zapp to retailers in 2014, the company said, including integration of its payment ecosystem into the core payment methods offered by Realex, Optimal Payments and SagePay, and joint marketing of the Zapp payment system to thousands of merchants.

"I am delighted to announce these new members of the Zapp network," ZAPP CEO Peter Keenan said in the release. "Zapp's success will be based on providing consumers with easy, secure and convenient ways to pay for a wide range of goods and services through thousands of retailers."

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