2011 is the first year of the great NFC land grab. It is going to be a wild and wooly time, and it will take a few years to settle out. Watch this space closely because it is going to be critical and risky for those trying to enter the game.
The venture is looking at transit systems, quick-service restaurants, coffee shops, grocery stores, parking providers, and other merchants that generate frequent transactions as businesses that naturally would be interested in its system. Stapleton, a keynote speaker Wednesday at the Smart Card Alliance’s 2011 Mobile and Transit Payments Summit in Salt Lake City, told the audience consumers won’t have to pay to make their handsets capable of making Isis transactions. “There will be no charge to the consumer,” he said.
Also, while Barclaycard is the first partner to manage Isis accounts, it likely won’t be the only one. “We are open to working with all card issuers,” Stapleton said. Isis also could open its system to other telecommunications carriers.
In addition, Stapleton said the company is interested in integrating its system so that Isis-enabled smart phones could pay contactless fares on transit systems that currently use closed-loop, or proprietary, fare cards. Transit is the only merchant category that generates twice-daily transactions, Stapleton noted. Isis also is looking at adding capabilities to handle private-label retail cards and gift cards.
Read more at the Digital Transactions site: http://www.digitaltransactions.net/news/story/2929