14 DAY TRIAL // Today, three wireless carriers in the United States announced officially the creation of a joint venture aimed at the creation of a national mobile commerce network that should change the manner in which people shop, pay and save.
According to the trio, the new ISIS solution would be aimed mainly at building a mobile payment network in the beginning, offering customers the possibility to use mobile phones to make point-of-sale purchases.
“The Isis mobile wallet will eliminate the need to carry cash, credit and debit cards, reward cards, coupons, tickets and transit passes, fundamentally changing how you shop, pay and save. All with your phone,” one can read on the special website put in place for the solution.
ISIS will take advantage of the near-field communication (NFC) technology included in smartphones so as to modernize the payments process.
At the same time, the three companies announced that they plan providing customers and merchants with a new levels of competition and value. The service should be rolled-out in a series of key markets in the following 18 months.
Isis will have Michael Abbott as its Chief Executive Officer. Michael Abbott has a great expertise in financial services, as well as in the the payment and technology industries.
“Our mobile commerce network, through relationships with merchants, will provide an enhanced, more convenient, more personalized shopping experience for consumers,” said Michael Abbott, Chief Executive Officer of Isis.
“While mobile payments will be at the core of our offering, it is only the start. We plan to create a mobile wallet that ultimately eliminates the need for consumers to carry cash, credit and debit cards, reward cards, coupons, tickets and transit passes.”
The three founding members, AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless, offer services to a number of more than 200 million consumers, all of which will benefit from the Isis service.
For the development of an extensive mobile payment infrastructure, Isis is working with Discover Financial Services’ payment network, which is already accepted at over seven million merchant locations nationwide.
“We believe the venture will have the scope and scale necessary to introduce mobile commerce on a broad basis. In the beginning, we intend to fully utilize Discover’s national payment infrastructure as well as Barclaycard’s expertise in contactless and mobile payments,” said Abbott.
“Moving forward, Isis will be available to all interested merchants, banks and mobile carriers.”
The mobile payments available via this service will be contactless, all enabled via the near-field communication technology.
“NFC uses short-range, high frequency wireless technology to enable the encrypted exchange of information between devices at a short distance. The new system is being designed and built to include strong security and privacy safeguards,” the trio announced.
Additional info on the Isis service can be found on the aforementioned website, here.
