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Mobile payments venture Isis flames out before launch

What started as a grandiose plan for a nationwide mobile commerce network has been scaled down to nothing more than a mobile wallet. Those who were expecting Isis, the venture from AT&T Mobility (T), T-Mobile USA Inc. (DTEGY) and Verizon Wireless (VZ), to give the likes of Visa Inc. (V) and MasterCard Inc. (MA) a run for their money, have come up incredibly short. Indeed, the original aspirations of the entire venture appear to have flamed out rather abruptly, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Not even six months after formally announcing the formation of the company, its mission and the hiring of its leader, Isis is reportedly abandoning plans to build a proprietary payment network with Discover Financial Services (DFS) and Barclays Plc (BARC) and has since approached Visa and MasterCard and others to encourage them to get involved with the new mobile wallet initiative.
To be fair, while Isis CEO Michael Abbott said the mobile commerce network would be the venture’s core offering, he also mentioned plans 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.”

ABOUT AUTHOR

Matt Kapko
Matt Kapko
Former Feature writer for RCR Wireless NewsCurrently writing for CIOhttp://www.CIO.com/ Matt Kapko specializes in the convergence of social media, mobility, digital marketing and technology. As a senior writer at CIO.com, Matt covers social media and enterprise collaboration. Matt is a former editor and reporter for ClickZ, RCR Wireless News, paidContent and mocoNews, iMedia Connection, Bay City News Service, the Half Moon Bay Review, and several other Web and print publications. Matt lives in a nearly century-old craftsman in Long Beach, Calif. He enjoys traveling and hitting the road with his wife, going to shows, rooting for the 49ers, gardening and reading.