Softcard closes up shop to prepare for Google assimilation
Customers of Softcard, formerly known as Isis Wallet, just can't catch a break. The mobile payment system changed its name last year in order to avoid being associated with a violent militant group. Now just half a year later, the company is announcing that it is all over, at least as far as the brand and the service itself goes. It's all good news for the company, however, as the reason it is closing isn't because of bankruptcy but because their IP has just been acquired by Google.
Early this year there was already talk about Google gobbling up Softcard as part of the search giant's own attempt to venture deeper into the realm of mobile payments. Those rumors were mostly prompted by Apple's unsurprising announcement of Apple Pay. Just a week before MWC 2015, that indeed happened, but not exactly in the way we expected. Google bought Softcard's IP, but not Softcard itself. That move was quite timely because just this week, Samsung also announced its own take called, what else, Samsung Pay.
Softcard might not be walking the lonely road soon. With Apple, Google, and Samsung all pushing for their own systems, the mobile payment market just immediately got crowded and, at the same time, harder to break into. Smaller companies that probably already been struggling to push the idea will now have to contend with the big players. Some of those might not survive.
Technically, Google didn't buy Softcard, but since it now has exclusive rights to the technology, business is over just the same. Softcard is giving users up to March 31 to prepare and migrate to Google Wallet. There's no automatic system though, so users will have to do it all over again manually. After the 31st, Softcard will cease working in all its incarnations. That's nothing new for Windows Phone users though, who might now be slightly relieved that they aren't the only ones that got the rug pulled from under them.