Isis Egyptian goddess of fertility and simplicity
According to ancient Egyptian culture the goddess Isis is synonymous with simplicity and also known as the goddess of fertility. In the United States, the name is to become synonymous with a payment system that would be carried out via mobile phones.
It is already a common feature in some countries to make payments for different kinds of service directly through mobile phones but this is not yet a widely introduced feature in the United States. However, three major mobile telephony service providers operating in the United States, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile and AT&T are set to change that.
The companies have announced their intention to come together and embark on a joint initiative to develop the necessary nationwide infrastructure that will make payments through mobile phones not only possible but also very quick and secure. The three companies have named the joint initiative they are embarking upon as Isis. According to the mobile telephone service providers, Isis will help to bring fundamental changes to how consumers make payments either for purchased goods or for rendered services. The joint project will develop a system whereby mobile phone users will be able to pay via their smartphones and NFC technology. Isis will be launched and targeted at all the major demographic sectors making use of mobile phones in the United States.
According to the CEO of Isis, Michael Abbott, a veteran of financial services and former executive with GE capital, the project is a going to be a network for commerce that will leverage on fostering a good working relationship with merchants in order to allow consumers enjoy greater convenience and personalized shopping via their mobile devices. The project CEO has also said there were also plans to integrate a mobile wallet into the system that would eliminate the need for consumers to move around with cash, coupons, transit passes, credit cards, debit cards and reward cards.
The development of the Isis system is being doing in conjunction with Discover Financial Services and it is expected that the company will first offer Isis’ services to end consumers is Barclaycard US.
According to Abbot, Isis’ CEO, the infrastructure being developed is one that will have the necessary strengths to ensure that the mobile phone payment system can be introduced to a very wide market in the United States. The project will also make extensive use of the existing infrastructure belonging to Discover Financial Services and the experience of Barclaycard in ensuring that it rolls out with services that will be of immense benefits to users. According to the CEO, merchants, mobile service providers and banks interested in making use of Isis will all be given the required assistance to get onto the network.
Isis will work through contactless NFC mobile transactions. The frequency for the service will be on a high short-range wireless technology with secure data encryption for protecting users privacy and keeping their payment details safe.