Last updated: 30 September 2015
Summer is upon us, and with that we are excited for Isis to start its pilots in our hometown of Austin, Texas, as well as in Salt Lake City, Utah. We’ve mentioned Isis a few times in the past; it is the joint venture between AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless that aims to bring secure NFC mobile payments and services to consumers, for which Gemalto is the Trusted Service Manager .
It seems Isis has been working hard for launch, announcing very recently that hundreds of merchant locations in both Austin and Salt Lake City – including cafes, restaurants, country clubs, the Utah Jazz (!), and national merchants Aeropostale, The Coca-Cola Company, Champs, Dillard’s, Foot Locker, Jamba Juice and Macy’s – are set to accept contactless payments so that consumers can use the Isis Mobile Wallet to shop every day. These consumers will need new NFC-enabled handsets, but they will be readily available at their local AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile or Verizon Wireless stores.
We’re really excited for the Isis launch not just because we are a part of it, but because it will really be the first time we will see NFC payments in action and in use by a large consumer base. And of course, our team being in Austin for the launch makes it even more exciting.
As for us at Team Gemalto, we’re getting ready for the NFC Solutions Summit 2012 this week, an event run by the Smart Card Alliance and the NFC Forum that is solely dedicated to NFC payment and non-payment applications. Though we go to a lot of events, this is the one NFC-only event, and we’re expecting a lot of information on NFC from both a business and a technical standpoint. If you’re attending, check out our own Amol Deshmukh speaking on managing secure elements during the NFC Secure Hardware and Application Environment Panel next Wednesday. Also remember to look for us to be tweeting (@Gemalto_NA) and blogging from the event!
