Isis Mobile Wallet launches in Salt Lake City and Austin

The new mobile payment system known as Isis Mobile Wallet has officially launched its pilot program in two US cities today. Salt Lake City, UT and Austin, TX are getting Isis support city-wide, and already there's a total of nine smartphones to choose from that come loaded with Isis support from AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile.

Isis is a new mobile payment method based on NFC that AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile all teamed up to support and develop. Isis already has formed partnerships will the major credit card companies Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express, and the platform is being tried in the public for the first time today in Salt Lake City and Austin.

On top of the nine Isis-ready devices that are already available from the three carriers, 11 more are said to be launching before the year's end, which means a total 20 Isis-capable phones will be available before 2013 rolls around. It seems that Isis may become the new mobile payment standard, but it will be competing against Google's Wallet service, which has already gotten a head start.

It's claimed that there are already "hundreds" of locations around Salt Lake City and Austin that support Isis, so finding a place to use the new service might not be as difficult as it sounds. New Isis users will receive a $10 Isis card when they activate their account, and users can earn another $15 when they activate their card to become reloadable.

[via Android Community]