So the most recent news on the scene is that operators are scaling back the ISIS m-commerce network in light of all the new NFC competition. Reported on May 4th, Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile are dramatically scaling back the scope of ISIS, forgoing mobile POS transactions for "mobile wallet" methods to store and exchange consumers existing credit card account information.
Some cite that it was the lack of collaboration with major issuers that held them back, stating that the three operator partners are only now in talks with Visa and MasterCard to get their cooperation in bringing them into the ISIS equation. mFoundry CEO and co-founder, Drew Sievers, commented "The carriers have to include MasterCard and Visa. Not including the 800 pound gorillas of the industry will make it very hard to succeed."
I can't help but think that this is also somehow connected to all of the big announcements that have been coming out recently. RIM just announced that the new Blackberry Bolds would have NFC capabilities, Google has not only added NFC capabilities to its Android operating system, but has also announced that they're going to help subsidize the cost of POS readers for merchants, Apple has partnered with Square and Visa to sell Square credit card readers. Overall it seems like the market is getting increasingly saturated, and even though ISIS' original strength was its multiple point buy-in from players across the value chain, it seems that overlooking major issuers (Visa and MasterCard) was a huge mistake. In addition, I can't help but wonder if they're also forgetting getting major merchants involved. Granted, they can probably rely on the consumer push to force merchant adoption, but couldn't they forgo the pain and hassle and go the more "Google" way in appealing directly to major merchants themselves?
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