By PYMNTS Editorial (@PYMNTS)
The answer to the often-asked question “Where In The World Is ISIS Wallet?” changed dramatically on November 14, when ISIS announced it is now available nationwide.
Now, the question is, “Where’s the beef?”
The ISIS mobile wallet app is said to now allow consumers to pay with their mobile devices at 200,000 local and national merchant locations – of the 8 million merchant locations that there are in the U.S. The app can also only be downloaded on select Android smartphones.
“Today’s nationwide launch of the Isis Mobile Wallet is a milestone for consumers, merchants and banks. It’s the start of a smarter way to pay,” Michael Abbott, CEO of ISIS, said in a November 14 statement.
Well, maybe for that tiny small fraction of consumers who have the right handset and live in an area with access to NFC-enabled terminals.
Aside from the “release” of the ISIS app nationwide, no other new details were announced. No new merchants, no new issuers, no new ignition plans. But, an ISIS spokesperson did say “there is more to come,” and there will be an “ongoing drumbeat” of momentum going into 2014.
That phrase – more to come – has sort of become part of the ISIS boilerplate.
The announcement today marks the end of a three-year long journey for ISIS that started in November 2010 with the intention of creating a “transformative” mobile commerce network. ISIS later launched testing in Austin, Texas, and Salt Lake City, Utah, though commentators began to raise questions about its value, especially as forecasts for NFC began to erode and NFC as an enabling technology has lost its luster in the U.S.
Data from the Google Play web store indicates the ISIS Mobile Wallet has a rating of 2.5 out of 5 stars from consumers.
For more on ISIS and its success accomplishing its original vision, listen to our exclusive 2010 interview with Ryan Hughes, CMO of ISIS, where he discusses the potential of the then nascent mobile wallet now some three years later.
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