Is anyone using ISIS wallet?

[rjack22]

Has anyone been successful using Verizon's ISIS wallet?

I had a TERRIBLE time getting it set up but I think I finally did, after countless calls to ISIS and Chase support. I have yet to get it to work with a merchant although I only tried once and that was immediately after I finally got it set up yesterday.

My problem was that it wasn't activating the cards. I would enter my card information and it was saying activation pending (or something like that) and then nothing. It would go back to the add a card screen. I tried both my Chase card and my American Express card. My first mistake was trying to activate a card at home where I do not have 4G. Evidently you need to be in a strong 4G area. This is not made clear unless you called for help. I have spent a lot of time with support off and on for the last two months trying to get my cards in my ISIS wallet. Yesterday I drove to a stong 4G area and made another attempt. I was able to call support on my OnStar car phone while inputting information on my Maxx. I put in my card information and then nothing. BUT...to my surprise after about an hour both cards showed up in the wallet...finally. I immediately went into the gas station nearby and attempted to purchase a pop with the wallet. It didn't work but that may have been the clerks error as he clearly didn't understand what I was doing. And I have sometimes had problems in the past with that station when I had Google Wallet. I think the clerk has to process it as a credit and he may not have. Or it may have been too soon after activation to try. I will go someplace else and try soon. I just wondered if anyone else has been successful with ISIS.

On a side note: I just read on the internet that ISIS will be going national "soon". Right now it is supposedly in a test market in Salt Lake City and Austin. That may also be why it won't work here. Any thoughts?

 

[Furt]

The whole service is still too specific for me. I'll never have another Chase account and I don't even know where to get an American Express card where I am. If they used Visa, it would be incredibly useful since I have about 7 of those.

 

[FrogVomit]

I have not heard anything about "test markets". It works fine for me in western NY with Amex.

 

[like2angle]

There are lots of places near me in Los Angeles that have a Google Wallet emblems where you swipe your credit cards. Even when all the big carries go live with ISIS it will be some time before retailers do. I just cant bring myself to trust any carrier with my credit card info and information they gain from my transactions. Further, they stand to make a lot of money from us. Shouldn't they be offering us some incentive to use ISIS?
Maybe its just me but I feel like I can trust Google and if ISIS is to be as good or better then Google Wallet then why wont Verizon let us pick which service we want to use?

 

[alee]

Been using ISIS without fail since getting the Maxx. Setup was a breeze for registering 2 Amex cards, and I've been paying at various venues around the USA without any surprises. The setup was more tedious than Google Wallet, but functionally the same. Taxis, drug stores, supermarkets, etc. Just like Google Wallet... it just works.

Just as other retail transactions, the cashier has to let the system know what kind of transaction (cash/credit/debit) before you can tap or swipe. So more of the same there -- if you tap before they key in to accept payment, it won't do anything.

 

[alee]

Maybe its just me but I feel like I can trust Google and if ISIS is to be as good or better then Google Wallet then why wont Verizon let us pick which service we want to use?

The devil is in the details of the deal.

So as a quick education: a credit card transaction is composed of 3 things - the tender amount, a fixed transaction fee, and a percentage processing fee. Merchants dislike credit cards for small purchases because their margin is hurt fairly significantly by all the fees.

Google Wallet uses whatever account you have in your Google account, but presents a virtual Mastercard number in front of it. So every Google Wallet transaction is actually a Mastercard transaction, even if you've linked it to a Visa or Amex card. Google is basically creating 2 charges for every transaction... a charge via the virtual Mastercard, which then passes through to charge your actual card. Two sets of fees instead of 1. My speculation is Google is willing to take a loss to try and gain faster adoption -- you don't need a Citibank card to do it anymore.

From best I've been able to decipher, ISIS is a card pass-through... your credit card is linked via the issuing bank. The pro: it's a direct connection with the bank, and it is a single transaction with a single set of fees associated with it. The con: you can't participate with ISIS unless you integrate your bank with ISIS. The setup process for the consumer is pretty fascinating as well, as a series of text messages and account logins validate your phone number and a credit card number connect with each other. It is fundamentally how Google/Citibank did their initial Wallet integration, but instead of Google brokering deals, now the carriers are all in a consortium to broker that deal.

Politics of the deal aside though, the mechanics of how the card is processed is why ISIS is only Amex and certain Chase cards, and why Google Wallet can get away with registering any card.

 

[rjack22]

UPDATE: Just used Isis for the first time at a gas station and it worked perfectly! I'm back in business! Sure was a hassle for me setting it up though.