Isis is looking to shake up the mobile payment market—one dominated currently by PayPal, Square, and Google Wallet—when it launches, after a few delays, on October 22.
Isis is a joint venture between Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and plans to go to head-to-head with Google Wallet by also employing Near Field Communcation (NFC) technology as a way for users to not only pay for items, but upload money to their smartphoines, as well. Various retailers such as 7-Eleven, Foot Locker, McDonald’s, Macy’s, The Home Depot, and Jamba Juice have already agreed to accept Isis payments. The Isis roll-out will be limited to Salt Lake City and Austin.
Even though it hasn't officially launched, Isis is available for download now in the Google Play store. Device compatibility is unknown but according to Isis marketing head Jaymee Johnson, “By year end, as many as 20 Isis-ready handsets are expected to be in market. We look forward to sharing more details on Oct. 22.”
Would you ditch your wallet to make payments via your smartphone? Do you think mobile payment systems will become the norm in the near future?
[via Wired]
