The US telcos AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA have reportedly backed away from their ambitious plans for a mobile payment system known as ISIS. The three companies announced last November that they would be creating a JV with the aim of…
The US telcos AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA have reportedly backed away from their ambitious plans for a mobile payment system known as ISIS.
The three companies announced last November that they would be creating a JV with the aim of developing a national mobile commerce network.
They said in a joint statement that this network would use smartphones and near-field communications (NFC) technology to modernise the payments process, allowing consumers to use mobile phones for shop purchases for example.
The JV was to work with the payment network of Discover Financial Services, a US credit and debit card company, while Barclaycard US was expected to be the first issuer on the network.
But according to a report last week on the ComputerWorld website citing the Wall Street Journal, the companies will instead now use a system that depends on major credit card companies like Visa and Mastercard.
While the three companies had initially said that they would still operate with Barclaycard and Discover Financial Services, but not exclusively.
The CEO of ISIS, Michael Abbott, said back in November that initially the plan was to use Discover’s payment infrastructure as well as Barclaycard’s expertise with contactless and mobile payments.
He added that in the future ISIS would be available to “all interested merchants, banks and mobile carriers”.
He said: “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.”
