Isis Will Include Prepaid Accounts In Mobile Wallet

The mobile wallet venture will include American Express Serve prepaid accounts for users when it is rolled out later this year.

When Isis hits the market later this year, users will find a co-branded prepaid account in their new mobile wallet thanks to a partnership between Isis and American Express Serve, according to a statement released yesterday by American Express and Isis. The co-branded account will enable customers to tap and pay using their Serve account at NFC-enabled terminals, the statement said.

American Express Serve will also enable users to pay bills online and make P2P payments; and users can load money to their Serve account from checking, debit or credit accounts, or by direct deposit. Isis users will also will also receive an American Express Serve Card linked to their prepaid accounts that can be used almost anywhere American Express is accepted.

The addition of a prepaid account could make Isis, a joint venture of Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile, more attractive to the nearly 70 million Americans who don’t have a traditional checking account, the two companies said in the statement. “From the palm of your hand, consumers, including those without access to traditional bank accounts or credit, can have access to everyday financial services,” Dan Schulman, group president of enterprise growth at American Express, said in the statement.

Isis has previously announced that it will support American Express consumer and small business cards, as well as credit cards from Capital One and Chase. The mobile wallet solution was piloted last year in Salt Lake City, Utah and Austin, Texas, and will be launched nationwide by the end of the year.

Jonathan Camhi has been an associate editor with Bank Systems & Technology since 2012. He previously worked as a freelance journalist in New York City covering politics, health and immigration, and has a master's degree from the City University of New York's Graduate School ... View Full Bio