Isis has signed up nearly 50 local merchants in its launch cities of Austin and Salt Lake City as well as seven national merchants where its subscribers will be able to make payments using its mobile wallet.  These are the first local merchants announced by Isis for its forthcoming launch in the two US cities.

Separately, Isis and American Express have just announced that the latter's cards will appear in the mobile wallet. Earlier this year Isis announced that Barclaycard, Chase and Capital One cards will be present in the wallet.

The seven national merchants are Aéropostale, The Coca-Cola Company, Champs Sports, Dillard’s, Foot Locker, Jamba Juice and Macy’s. Isis describes the latter as being among the first national merchants to sign up for the mobile payments venture.

The near-50 local merchants are split between the two US cities with roughly sixty percent in Salt Lake City. The list includes a variety of retailers, cafes and restaurants. In addition, there are  merchants in both cities who already accept contactless payments including grocery stores, retailers, gas stations and cafes. Isis says hundreds of locations will accept its mobile wallet at launch this summer across the two cities.

"Today’s announcement signals the mobile commerce experience has arrived. A strong merchant base in Austin and Salt Lake City will make the Isis Mobile Wallet real for consumers as they choose to use their mobile wallet at many of their favorite merchant locations to pay and redeem offers,” said Jim Stapleton, chief sales officer, Isis.

The mobile venture is also working on signing up financial partners. It has just announced that Amex card holders will be able to make payments from the Isis mobile wallet.