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Sprint mulling m-commerce options as rivals team for national network

November 17, 2010 — 9:36am ET | By Jason Ankeny

Sprint (NYSE:S) said it is weighing multiple mobile payment solution alternatives following the announcement that rival operators Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ), AT&T (NYSE:T) and T-Mobile USA will partner to launch Isis, a nationwide m-commerce network enabling consumers to make point-of-sale purchases via mobile device. "Although we are not part of [the Isis] announcement, Sprint is currently investigating several options on how to bring mobile payments to our customers," a Sprint spokesperson explained in an email to FierceMobileContent. "Given our open philosophy, Sprint does not want to compete with the card companies and banks that people already may use. We want to partner with companies that help our customers pay in the manner they choose. We're not here to recreate a proprietary solution but to enable our partners and their customers to connect in the easiest and most productive way possible."

Among the options Sprint is exploring: Sprint Mobile Wallet, a new solution enabling subscribers to use buy physical and digital products directly from their phones by entering a universal PIN code and billing purchases to their existing Visa, MasterCard and Amazon Payments accounts. 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; authenticated payments services provider CardinalCommerce will host all transactions. Sprint Mobile Wallet is initially rolling out as a Sprint Zone download, with the carrier preloading the service on new devices beginning in 2011.

At launch, the Isis initiative will focus on building out a Near Field Communications-based network enabling consumers to pay for retail goods and services by waving a radio microchip-equipped smartphone at a corresponding retailer reader unit. However, CEO Michael Abbott--a financial services veteran most recently with GE Capital--said the ultimate goal is the development of a mobile wallet solution that effectively renders obsolete cash, credit and debit cards, loyalty cards, coupons, tickets and transit passes.

Isis plans to introduce NFC payment services in key geographic markets within the next 18 months, partnering with Discover Financial Services to build out the necessary mobile payment structure. Discover Financial Services' payment network is accepted at over 7 million merchant locations nationwide. Isis adds that Barclaycard US is expected to be the first issuer on the network, offering multiple mobile payment products. "Moving forward, Isis will be available to all interested merchants, banks and mobile carriers," Abbott said in a prepared statement.

Reports of the Isis initiative first surfaced in August, with Bloomberg indicating Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile will begin trialing contactless payments in mid-2011. Together, the three operators serve more than 200 million wireless subscribers across the U.S., and could pose a serious threat to traditional credit and debit service providers like Visa and MasterCard. "This is definitely a game-changer," industry consultant Richard Crone of financial advisory firm Crone Consulting LLC told Bloomberg this summer, explaining wireless carriers "are the biggest recurring billers in every market. They are experts at processing payments."

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