Finally got the @PayWithIsis latest update on my @VerizonWireless @Motorola Moto X
Over the last few months I have been tweeting about mobile wallets
and getting my Motorola Moto X smartphone prepped for the national rollout of the PayWithIsis mobile/digital wallet.
My phone has a secure sim so it was compatible with the PayWithIsis app and I installed the older version and configured the app. At the time I did not have a compatible credit card to use. The Google Wallet app works on my phone but not as a tap and pay device.
When Google released their latest Android operating system, Kit Kat, everything changed. This new version has built in support for a technology called Host Card Emulation (HCE) which allows a program, like Google Wallet, to emulate a card and communicate directly to a NFC enabled point of sale card reader. My phone was updated quickly and soon after the release, the Google Wallet app
was updated and I was able to use the tap and pay functionality. Since I have been in the Google smartphone ecosystem for a few years, the debit cards I typically use were already configured in my digital wallet. Making payments at NFC enabled point of sale devices has been easy.
The PayWithIsis app was released nationally and my phone was not included. Some speculated that PayWithIsis shut out phones that could use HCE. Well that is not true. Tonight (December 18, 2013) I received my Verizon PayWithIsis update.
The new feature was compatibility with Android KitKat. After my app upgraded and I accepted the new user agreement (which was emailed to me for my records) I was greeted with this preferences menu over the login PIN.
I had to set PayWithIsis as the default wallet. I initially selected no and was dumped out of the app. I went back in and changed the default.
The card selection menu was updated to include WellsFargo.
Since I do not have a compatible card I selected "Other card" and was presented with an offer to enroll with the American Express Serve pre-paid account and connect any of my cards or bank accounts. The nice touch was the $50.
The PayWithIsis app has a "Where to Pay" finder in the app.
It then launches the phones web browser
and produces a map. There are places on the map to use it. For me it is dominated by McDonald's, CVS and RiteAid.
After exploring the PayWithIsis app I launched the Google Wallet app and was asked to change my wallet preference. I expected this.
I selected "No" and the Google Wallet app completed to open up. The main Google Wallet dashboard prominately displayed the fact that "Tap and pay will not work."
I liked the fact that the Google Wallet app has a main dashboard option to switch the default back to itself.
Now I get to spend the next few weeks testing each of these mobile wallets in real world scenarios.