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The Isis mobile-payments platform plans to go live at about 1,000 merchant locations in each of the two cities it has targeted for what it calls a “soft launch” this summer, according to officials with the company. While Isis will not identify the merchants it is talking to, it is targeting retailers that rank in the top 100 in sales volume in the two cities, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Austin, Texas, in hopes of signing up stores that cater to what the officials call the “everyday spend” needs of consumers.
The question of who will pay for the contactless readers merchants will need to accept Isis transactions will be decided on a “merchant-by-merchant basis,” officials said.
The launch, expected some time in July, could start somewhat sooner if Isis’s in-house sales team signs enough merchants and other factors are favorable, the officials said. Isis will blanket both cities with print, online, billboard, and social-media advertising to drive consumers to the participating stores.
The plans for the two test cities emerged during a conference Isis held on Wednesday in Austin for software developers and terminal makers Isis works with or hopes to recruit. The company, a Dallas-based joint venture created in 2010 by Verizon Wireless, AT&T Inc., and T-Mobile USA, competes with other recently announced mobile-wallet initiatives such as Google Inc.’s Google Wallet and Visa Inc.’s V.me, delivering payments and marketing offers via near-field communication (NFC) technology.
While Isis has been mum for months about most of the details of its launch plans, it revealed some of the particulars during conference presentations and in interviews with Digital Transactions News. It also gave a demonstration of how its wallet will work.
Jaymee Johnson, Isis head of marketing, stressed during a presentation that marketing in the two launch cities will be substantial across all channels to boost merchant participation and consumer adoption. The goal is 100 million impressions, he told the audience. “We are heavily invested in Salt Lake City and Austin to drive up contactless penetration in those cities,” he said. “We’re focused on everyday spend. We want to maximize the times [users] can pay.”
Isis will concentrate on the two test cities this year and look to expand in 2013, though he would not say how fast and where that expansion might go. “We’ll go much more broadly on our way up to national [coverage],” he said. “Which cities, and when, is not yet public.” Any of the 144,000 merchant locations around the country that accepts contactless payments can accept Isis for payment, but the company will focus on Salt Lake and Austin for marketing. Participating merchants so far include the Utah Transit Agency in Salt Lake.
