Will Isis Attempt to Replace, or Work With, Existing Payment Processors?

You could get a good debate, almost any day, over the potential impact new players in mobile payments might have. Isis, the joint venture between AT&T Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile USA, Barclays and Discover Networks might be seen as a case of a venture that aims to displace some of the current players.

Others argue that will be very difficult (it will) and that the more-logical route is some sort of grand partnership, that focuses less on shifting market share in the “payments” business and focuses more on creating new forms of value that have more to do with eliminating overhead, improving customer service and creating more convenient ways to advertise, deliver coupons and promotions, or create loyalty.

David Schropfer, a partner at the Luciano Group, says it is not clear what will happen. But there is some logic to the notion that the current “four-party system involving a merchant, a consumer, and the banks that the user and retailer use, was created long ago, and could be redesigned for an Internet-connected, mobile world, operating more efficiently at the same time it creates more value-added platforms.

Mobile Marketing and Technology