Isis Planning National Rollout Later This Year

NEW YORK -- Isis will launch its mobile wallet payment system nationwide later this year. According to the company, the move is warranted based on its successful tests conducted in the Austin, Texas, and Salt Lake City markets.

“Over the past nine months, we have proven the power of an open platform, creating an ecosystem of literally hundreds of partners dedicated to making mobile commerce a reality,” said Michael Abbott, CEO of Isis. “As part of our commitment to consumers, we are incorporating feedback from our [pilot programs] into the next generation of the Isis Mobile Wallet as we prepare for national availability later this year."

The Isis Mobile Wallet, a joint venture of AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile US Inc. and Verizon Wireless, uses near-field communication (NFC) technology to allow consumers to pay, redeem coupons and present loyalty cards with a tap of their smartphone. To use the Isis Mobile Wallet, consumers need an NFC-enabled smartphone and a SIM-based secure element, which together make the device "Isis-ready."

Nearly 20 million smartphones currently in use feature NFC technology, according to Isis. Consumers that activate the Isis Mobile Wallet can pay at retail locations that accept contactless payments -- the number of which has steadily grown over the past several years. Twenty-five of the top 100 national retailers have deployed or are deploying contactless terminals, Isis stated in a news release.

In its Austin and Salt Lake City test programs, Isis discovered that, on average, active Isis Mobile Wallet users tap and pay more than 10 times per month. In addition, two-thirds of active users opted in to receive offers and messages from their favorite brands, following an average of seven brands.

Convenience store chain Maverik Inc. participated in the Salt Lake City test.

The Isis Mobile Wallet expects to compete with several other contactless mobile payment platforms, including ones from Merchant Customer Exchange, Google, Square, PayPal and LevelUp.

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