The NFC pilot services that the Isis consortium plans to launch in the US cities of Salt Lake City and Austin later this year will run for a period of 6-12 months before a nationwide introduction of the mobile payment services begins, according to Jim Stapleton, chief sales officer for Isis.  Stapleton was speaking at the Smart Card Alliance conference held in Salt Lake City and his comments were reported by local newspaper The Salt Lake Tribune.  

He described the launch “this summer” in the two cities as being “kind of a full frontal attack across carriers, banks and merchants” as well as “a conversion opportunity” for consumers. Mobile operators and banks will likely contact local residents soon about the new service. Isis is a joint venture between the three largest US mobile operators AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA. The venture has previously only said its service in the two US cities would launch in the first half of 2012.