Isis, USA Technologies team to expand mobile payments to vending machines

Isis is partnering with cashless payment services firm USA Technologies to expand its mobile commerce network to 7,500 vending machines in the Austin, Texas and Salt Lake City markets.

Isis, spearheaded by Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ), AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T) and T-Mobile USA, began consumer trials in Austin and Salt Lake in late October, enabling customers to pay for purchases, use store loyalty cards and redeem discounts and coupons via Near Field Communications-enabled smartphones across hundreds of contactless-enabled merchant locations. The USAT deal brings Isis Mobile Wallet support to vending machines powered by the company's NFC-enabled ePort technology and ePort Connect service. Vending operators must install USAT's NFC-enabled technology and display corresponding signage to begin accepting Isis payments.

Roughly half of USAT's ePort Connect service base of 174,000 connections leverages NFC, the firm adds.

News of the Isis/USAT agreement first surfaced in an SEC filing this fall. According to the filing, Isis will pay USAT a subsidy for each vending machine that adopts Mobile Wallet support prior to Dec. 31. The two companies can agree to extend the cutoff date to March 31, 2013.

To begin using Isis, consumers must first visit an AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA or Verizon Wireless retail store in Austin or Salt Lake City to obtain a secure element SIM card and ensure their handset model is Isis-enabled. From there, users must download the Isis application from the Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Play digital storefront. Consumers may either load an eligible American Express, Capital One or Chase credit card into their Isis wallet or leverage the Isis Cash Card inserted into every account.

For more:
- read this release

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