Tag: mobile payment solutions

The smartphone wallet joint venture rumors have been flying and finally an announcement has come.

Though Isis has not seen a tremendous amount of use in its two pilot cities of Salt Lake City, Utah, and Dallas, Texas, it has now reached the point that this mobile payments solution will be expanding to the nationwide scene.

This digital wallet is the result of the efforts of Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile U.S., and AT&T Mobility.

The rumor mill had been closely following this project, as the mobile payments market continues to become increasingly swamped with players, and has been waiting for the solution to be rolled out across the United States. Finally, the news has come and the companies involved in the joint venture have confirmed that it will be available across the country before the year is done.

The mobile payments wallet will be available to more customers and in more locations.

The Isis mobile payments solution has undergone a lengthy trial period for three quarters of a year. According to the chief executive officer of Isis, Michael Abbott, “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.”

Abbott went on to talk about this mobile payments project, saying that “As part of our commitment to consumers, we are incorporating feedback from our pilots into the next generation of the Isis Mobile Wallet as we prepare for national availability later this year.”

In order to use the Isis mobile payments wallet, consumers must have a smartphone with NFC technology. This is the tech that is required for paying, redeeming coupons, and using loyalty cards simply by tapping their smartphones against a reader device. At the moment, only a small percentage of smartphones are equipped with the necessary technology. It is, however, slowly growing in popularity among the manufacturers.

Currently, the only devices that are compatible with the Isis mobile payments are Android based, but the company has stated that it will soon make the digital wallet ready for iOS, Windows Phone 8, and BlackBerry 10.

This allows card readers at a point of sale to be entirely replaced by the smartphone.

Flint, a mobile payment solutions company, has taken on massive competition, such as PayPal and Square, by releasing its new app that eliminates the need for magnetic card readers, in favor of a unique new system that uses the camera on iPhones for image recognition.

The Flint app applies new algorithms for reading the numbers right off the face of a card.

With the mobile payments data collected through the device camera, a transaction can be immediately completed. The CEO of Flint, Greg Goldfarb, explained that “It doesn’t take a picture of the card.” Instead, it uses the camera feature and “It just reads the numbers, and we do that to protect consumer privacy.”

The mobile payments system has been receiving a great deal of attention and applause, particularly for a newbie.

As a first time app developer, it is the recipient of a tremendous amount of positive attention. This is due to the unique tack that it has taken in the development of its mobile payments system and the marketing efforts that it has made to encourage adoption and use. For instance, it allows users to link an account to the Facebook page for their business. This gives customers who have made a purchase the opportunity to create testimonials that will be posted directly onto that page, as well as on their own social network wall.

At the moment, the app is exclusive only to iOS devices. Many in the mobile payments industry are keeping a close watch on this new addition to the marketplace, as they are keen to see how it stands up against a competition that is made up of some well established giants in the transaction domain.

So far, it is receiving positive attention due to its ability to quickly process mobile payments. Retailers like that a dongle is not required in order to make it work, and the free app allows them to begin accepting payments very soon after downloading. However, the primary drawback that has been pointed out is that it currently feels as though it is a step slower than the old fashioned method of swiping a card through a traditional reader.