American Express and Chase have announced that they will be furthering their partnership with Isis and offering their consumers new ways to make payments via the mobile wallet.

American Express has introduced the product American Express Serve to Isis to let consumers pay bills and send money through the mobile wallet. Chase has announced that it will offer its credit cards in the mobile wallet nationwide, following successful pilots in Austin, TX and Salt Lake city, UT.

“We believe digital wallets are going to redefine the world of banking and will break down the barriers between traditional retail financial products,” said Stefan Happ, senior vice president of United States payment options at American Express, New York.

“Digital wallets are morphing into full-service money management tools and can function as an alternative to traditional bank branches and check cashers,” he said.

“By linking our platform with Isis we’re enabling customers to use their Serve account within the Isis Mobile Wallet to move and manage their money more conveniently and less expensively.”

American Express Serve
American Express consumers will be able to use the Isis mobile wallet to load funds to their American Express Serve account from bank accounts, debit, credit or charge cards and another American Express Serve account.

Cardholders will be able to tap and pay with their phone at any NFC-enabled retailers that accept American Express. They can also use the account to pay online.

Via American Express Serve, consumers will be able to pay bills electronically as well as make payments to other American Express Serve account-holders.

According to the FDIC, almost 70 million Americans do not have bank accounts or access to credit, so American Express decided to roll out this option to provide a cheaper alternative to traditional banking services.

Mobile Payments
Chase is also supporting the national rollout of the Isis mobile wallet. It will allow Chase Freedom, Chase Sapphire, Chase Slate and JPMorgan Palladium cardholders to load their cards into the mobile wallet.

Isis recently announced that it would be rolling out its mobile wallet nationwide later this year. Acknowledging the fact that iPhones are still not NFC-enabled, the company will provide an iPhone case with an embedded NFC chip (see story).

There is currently a lot of competition in the mobile payments arena, with other products such as MCX, PayPal and Google Wallet also gaining traction. Securing American Express and Chase is a promising move for Isis that shows it is trying to fight its way to the top.

“One of our key learnings from our pilots is that people wanted to see more features and functionality offered in the Wallet,” said Ryan Hughes, chief marketing officer of Isis.

“By linking the American Express Serve and Isis platforms, we’re creating a mobile wallet and customer experience that works for the realities of today’s POS environment and the potential of tomorrow’s,” he said.

Final Take
Rebecca Borison is editorial assistant on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York