Sprint launching American Express mobile wallet solution

Sprint (NYSE:S) will become the first mobile operator to roll out American Express's fledgling Serve digital payments platform when it introduces Serve mobile wallet services across select Android smartphones later this summer.

American Express unveiled Serve in March. Serve unifies multiple payment options into a single digital account that consumers can fund from their bank account, debit, credit or charge card or by receiving cash from another Serve account. After users set up an account at Serve.com or download the appropriate Android or iOS application, they can send and receive money, pay bills and make online purchases. In addition, AmEx issues each Serve subscriber a reloadable prepaid credit card linked to their account, which they can use at any merchant or ATM that accepts American Express.

Sprint will make the Serve mobile wallet app available for download via Sprint Zone, an icon on their Android device that provides account information, app recommendations and related consumer content. American Express said it plans to expand Serve to the BlackBerry and Windows Phone operating systems, although it is unknown if Sprint will extend support for the platform beyond Android.

Serve represents Sprint's latest foray into the fast-growing mobile payments segment. In mid-November 2010, the carrier unveiled Mobile Wallet, a solution enabling subscribers to use buy physical and digital products directly from their phones, entering a universal PIN code and billing purchases to their existing Visa, MasterCard and Amazon Payments account. Sprint stresses that the Mobile Wallet tool is not a carrier billing mechanism, instead calling it a "container" for on-the-go customers to leverage traditional payment methods.

In early April, Sprint also stated plans to introduce a Near Field Communications-based mobile payments service by the end of 2011, months ahead of Isis, the nationwide mobile commerce network spearheaded by rival operators Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ), AT&T (NYSE:T) and T-Mobile USA.

"We intend to make this an open solution where consumers can use their phone in a variety of physical locations," Sprint vice president of product platforms Kevin McGinnis told Bloomberg. "Because we're allowing other brands and other institutions to participate, they can also tell their consumers that this is available on Sprint."

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