Isis 2012 welcomes all comers

Isis has been struggling to develop its own identify in a world of big names and big players.  The company recently announced that it would scrape plans to build its own payment network and instead incoorporate with other eixsting financial back end systems.

Today RRW has a good break down of where Isis is now, what they are currently planning on offereing and a break down of what the future could hold.

From RRW:

What is Isis

“Originally, the operator-led Isis initiative planned to launch with Discover and Barclays U.S., but now the company will launch with multiple payment networks and banks when it goes live in 2012. Which ones will be on board at launch? Johnson can’t say, but notes that it’s now open to all comers. And by “all,” Isis doesn’t just mean all banks, it means any other mobile operators, card issuers, Apple, Google or anyone else who wants in.

It’s a big change and a bold move for Isis, especially in light of the recent news that Google is moving forward with its own NFC plans, due to be announced later this week. But it certainly makes more sense for Isis to try work with others in the same space, instead of trying to go it alone with its own payments network.”

For consumers:

“For consumers, the appeal of a mobilized, digital wallet is not hard to grasp. Instead of carting around a physical wallet with dozens of credit, debit and store loyalty cards, you would only need your phone. To make a transaction, you would just tap or wave your phone at the contactless NFC reader at the point of sale. If you also had a loyalty card with that store (and you likely do: U.S. consumers have, on average, 12 to 15 of these), that transaction could automatically apply discounts, deliver new coupons or other offers or rewards upon checkout.”

For merchants:

“For merchants, NFC and mobile payments offer them an avenue to get onto the mobile phone. Through opt-in relationships with consumers, retailers can open a dialog with customers, track their shopping trends and then send out targeted offers through various mobile merchandising channels.”