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If Google Wallet was to continue to exist this was inevitable because Softcard (formerly ISIS) had locked up the usage of the secure element inside all the Andr

by coleca 12y ago

If Google Wallet was to continue to exist this was inevitable because Softcard (formerly ISIS) had locked up the usage of the secure element inside all the Android phones coming from all the US carriers except Sprint and its MVNOs. And ISIS was having a very hard time getting retailers onboard with its platform despite offering 7 figure incentives and covering their implementation costs for integration with their point of sale systems.

wmf 12y ago
Isn't there an EMV-NFC standard that eliminates the need for POS integration? IIRC CurrentC was the one that isn't using the standard.
- coleca 12y ago
  Yes, there is a standard for payments on the PIN pads. However, the real push for ISIS/Softcard was that they could do more than payments. They wanted to be able to push coupons through the PIN pads to the POS from their app. That was how they were planning to monetize the platform. The fees they would get from banks to hook into the system were minimal. Even if the PIN pads could support coupons over NFC, most large scale POS software could not. I had experience last year trying to integrate ISIS/Softcard into a large retailer that was running IBM/Toshiba ACE POS software and ISIS/Softcard support wasn't even IBM/Toshiba's radar. Many large retailers run ACE (Kroger, Safeway, Costco, Macys, etc.).
  - wmf 12y ago
    Ah, my mistake. I was thinking of the credit card system as a "dumb pipe" for money. Why would anyone want to build that?
jsight 12y ago
Google Wallet works (and has worked) just fine with NFC payments on my Verizon phone. This is much less of an issue with modern phones due to changes in the way the secure element works. (EDIT: To be clear, I am talking about this: https://developer.android.com/about/versions/kitkat.html#44-hce https://developer.android.com/about/versions/kitkat.html#44-...)

by coleca 12y ago

wmf 12y ago

Isn't there an EMV-NFC standard that eliminates the need for POS integration? IIRC CurrentC was the one that isn't using the standard.

coleca 12y ago
Yes, there is a standard for payments on the PIN pads. However, the real push for ISIS/Softcard was that they could do more than payments. They wanted to be able to push coupons through the PIN pads to the POS from their app. That was how they were planning to monetize the platform. The fees they would get from banks to hook into the system were minimal. Even if the PIN pads could support coupons over NFC, most large scale POS software could not. I had experience last year trying to integrate ISIS/Softcard into a large retailer that was running IBM/Toshiba ACE POS software and ISIS/Softcard support wasn't even IBM/Toshiba's radar. Many large retailers run ACE (Kroger, Safeway, Costco, Macys, etc.).
- wmf 12y ago
  Ah, my mistake. I was thinking of the credit card system as a "dumb pipe" for money. Why would anyone want to build that?

jsight 12y ago

Google Wallet works (and has worked) just fine with NFC payments on my Verizon phone. This is much less of an issue with modern phones due to changes in the way the secure element works. (EDIT: To be clear, I am talking about this: https://developer.android.com/about/versions/kitkat.html#44-hce https://developer.android.com/about/versions/kitkat.html#44-...)