2011年7月20日星期三

Isis signs big three credit card giants

Isis signs big three credit card giants



The US cellcos behind the Isis mobile payments venture certainly did the right thing by backing away from their initial bid to circumvent the big plastic card processors. Having recognized the futility of trying to bypass Visa and MasterCard, the group has gained the support of both those giants, plus American Express - the first m-payments platform to win backing from all three majors. Isis - controlled by Verizon Wireless,By Alex Lippa Close-up of solar panel in Massachusetts. AT&T and T-Mobile USA - also has its original payments partner, Discover Financial Services.

Originally, Isis said it aimed to be a proprietary, carrier-driven mobile payments network, enabled by the NFC technology and working with Discover plus Barclays. But it quickly repositioned itself as an open mobile wallet platform, similar to those seen among European and Asian cellcos - sacrificing some of the operators' control for the essential support of the trusted payment brands.

Mobile payments are increasingly based on a confusing web of overlapping initiatives, and consumer and merchant uptake will depend on this underlying spaghetti being presented to the public under clear brands. Visa has announced plans for its own digital wallet system, and has made several acquisitions to fill out the functionality, including Fundamo and Monitise. That initiative will go live in the fall and will have global reach, so will potentially use Isis as its US partner. MasterCard has many trials and alliances with operators and device makers, though its approach has so far been more focused on Europe than north America, while American Express has announced a digital payments platform called Serve.Initially the banks didn't want our high risk merchant account .

Until Isis announced its new alliances,Flossie was one of a group of four chickens in a chicken coop . Serve seemed to be enabling Sprint to steal a march on its rivals. Earlier this week, the CDMA operator - the only big four US cellco to remain outside Isis - announced that it would be the first operator partner for Amex.Graphene is not a semiconductor, not an Insulator , and not a metal, Sprint has already launched a mobile wallet and other services that enable it to partner with a wide range of financial institutions, and its network will be used for the first stage of Amex's US Serve roll-out,Unlike traditional cube puzzle , with the m-wallet functions coming to selected Sprint Android smartphones later this summer. Sprint's openness was a canny move while Isis was focused on being an alternative to the traditional payments structures, but now it is overshadowed by the three-way JV.

Bill Glenn, president of global merchant services at American Express, said in a statement: "This relationship is another way for American Express to expand the digital experience in the social marketplace. As the line between online and offline continues to blur, American Express is leveraging our digital closed loop to help connect our merchant network with our card members in any environment."

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