ISIS Mobile Payments to Launch Nationwide?

ISIS is a mobile payments venture, a joint venture of multiple carriers in the United States including AT&T and Verizon Wireless among others.  This effort has been in the news the last year or two and all of it has been bad for quite a while now.  Their latest efforts signal a desire to change that and may signal something else as well.

ISIS has based their mobile payments solution on Near Field Communication (NFC) capabilities that require a hardware addition to devices.  Google was an Innovator in this space including NFC support in to Google Wallet that has deflated recently.  In Android devices the OEMs have tended to include the chip.  Apple however has not supported NFC with its products.  Not yet that is.

If you hold an iPhone 4S and last year's iPhone 5 at the same time you quickly see a huge difference in form factor and weight.  The screen on the iPhone 5 is longer, creating more space behind the screen for "stuff" but it is slimmer and weights noticeably less than the previous year's model, the 4S.  My thinking is all of this effort from the 4S to the 5 was to free up space and weight so Apple could add in hardware in this year's model, likely to be named the iPhone 5S.  Would NFC be one of those additions?

The rumor mill says yes.

http://www.ibtimes.com/apple-iphone-5s-rumors-nfc-features-likely-more-iwallet-patents-release-public-1177801

So if ISIS is thinking along the same lines, and may have received signals from Apple, this press release makes sense as a move to begin building momentum for NFC overall and ISIS in the meantime.

http://www.paymentssource.com/news/isis-prepares-for-nationwide-rollout-of-its-mobile-wallet-3014954-1.html

One example of the positive news NFC has been receiving, suddenly, is the following on how NFC can enable Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs) to speed their business and increase throughput.

http://www.mobilepaymentstoday.com/article/216383/NFC-technology-will-put-the-fast-back-in-fast-food-Commentary

This is the beginning of mobile payments.  Not the middle nor the end.  What will tomorrow bring?

J.W. Gant

**UPDATE**

ISIS is trying to create the sensation of beating drums leading the way to the future.  The news coming out is steady with major announcement following another and another.  Here is the latest:
http://www.paymentsnews.com/2013/08/american-express-serve-isis-announce-plan-to-link-mobile-wallet-platforms.html

This is an obvious attempt to turn around the public perception of ISIS, that has been almost all negative for the last 12 months, and create the appearance of momentum.