Isis Mobile Wallet Demoed, Launch Details Emerge
Michael Abbot, CEO of Isis, was at Money2020 to present the NFC-based mobile wallet, and to provide details on the anticipated U.S. national launch.
To answer your question - yes, it’s coming, in a few weeks in fact.
Isis, the carrier backed mobile wallet initiative that’s backed by Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, and AT&T, underwent testing last year and faces a national roll-out on a scale that hopes to push mobile-payments forward in the United States.
Isis will allow the storage of credit, debit, gift cards, and support for loyalty programs. A password or PIN is required to access payment information, and checkout involves a technology called SmartTap. The customer taps their mobile device to the store’s NFC-enabled POS system to transfer payment data.
There are already a few mobile wallets in the wild which offer the same or similar features, and getting consumers to actually use these apps is part of the problem of entering a highly competitive market. Another issue is that merchants must have NFC tech in their POS systems.
According to Abbot, Isis will be preinstalled in new Verizon, AT&T Mobile, and T-Mobile phones starting later this month. This may solve the problem of consumer adoption and spreading brand awareness.
However, whether consumers will use Isis, or any other mobile-wallet app for that matter has been up for debate. In a study conducted by Consult Hyperion in September, 64% of consumers polled said they would never use a mobile wallet.