JVL Ventures

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
JVL Ventures
legal form LLC
founding November 16, 2010
resolution March 31, 2015
Reason for dissolution Takeover and cessation of operations by Google Inc.
Seat New York City
management Michael Abbott ( CEO )
Branch Mobile commerce
Website gosoftcard.com

JVL Ventures, LLC , based in New York City , United States of America , was an American joint venture founded in November 2010 by the wireless network operators AT&T , T-Mobile and Verizon . It developed and operated a mobile payment platform under the brand name Isis Mobile Wallet , later Softcard . This used NFC to enable users to pay with the access data of their credit or debit card stored on their smartphone . The partnership was first announced on November 16, 2010, followed by a test run in 2012, and the service officially launched nationwide on November 14, 2013. The official softcard app was available for NFC-compatible Android smartphones and later also for Microsoft Windows Phone 8 .1.

On February 23, 2015, it was announced that Google Inc. will acquire Softcards intellectual property and incorporate it into its own Google Wallet service . As a result, the Softcard service ended on March 31, 2015 and Softcard's founders started supporting Android Pay instead .

history

Founder and Partner

In November 2010, AT&T, T-Mobile USA and Verizon officially announced the joint venture Isis, which was planning to develop an NFC-based platform. The company also announced a partnership with Discover Financial to leverage its point of service network. A partnership with Barclaycard as the card issuer has also been announced. The company said it plans to roll out its service in key markets over the next 18 months. The three founders announced that they would invest more than USD 100 million in the project.

The service initially planned to work as a payment system that processes its own transactions. However, Isis later changed the payment system so that it could be integrated into existing credit card and payment networks, citing the rapid development of competition. On July 19, 2011, Isis announced that American Express , Mastercard and Visa would support the platform. Isis planned to start a test run in Salt Lake City and Austin, Texas, in early to mid-2012 .

In September 2014, Isis announced that HTC , LG Electronics , Motorola Mobility , Samsung Electronics , Research in Motion and Sony Ericsson had agreed to produce smartphones that are compatible with the system. The company also announced a partnership with DeviceFidelity to develop NFC accessories for other devices to enable them to support Isis. In February, Isis announced Barclays Bank Delaware , Capital One and JPMorgan Chase as banking partners for the service.

Isis was first launched in Austin and Salt Lake City on October 22, 2012 before becoming available nationwide on November 14, 2013.

In September 2014, the service was renamed "Softcard" because the name "Isis" led to negative associations because it is also the abbreviation for the terrorist organization Islamic State .

Acquisition by google and close

On February 23, 2015, Google announced the acquisition of certain assets and intellectual property from Softcard and their integration into its Google Wallet service . At the same time, the softcard sellers AT&T, T-Mobile US and Verizon signaled to support Google Wallet and to deliver Google's app instead of Softcard on their compatible devices later in the year. The partnership aims to create a stronger competitor to Apple Pay , as Apple's position in the market made it more widespread. Softcard CEO Michael Abbott had previously indicated that they were actively working with Apple to bring the service to the iPhone. Google Wallet is also supported by Sprint and MetroPCS .

Ironically, all three wireless companies had previously colluded against Google Wallet to protect Softcard, e.g. B. Verizon refused to use Google Wallet on its devices because the service needs access to the "protected elements" of a smartphone, even though Softcard has the same requirements.

In the last year of Softcard, hackers operating from a data center in Paris succeeded at least three times in filtering large amounts of data from the softcard production.

Softcard and related apps discontinued their services on March 31, 2015. Softcard user data has not been migrated to Google Wallet and Google's service does not support Microsoft Windows Phone . At Google's developer conference Google I / O in May 2015, the company presented Android Pay as a replacement for both services.

Technologies

Softcard was built on several underlying technologies:

  • C-SAM : mobile wallet platform
  • Gemalto : mobile commerce platform

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ryan Kim: Can a Carrier Consortium Make Mobile Payments Work? In: Gigaom. Knowingly, Inc., November 16, 2010, accessed February 23, 2015 .
  2. ^ Joseph L. Flatley: AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon announce Isis national mobile commerce network. In: engadget. AOL, Inc., November 16, 2010, accessed February 23, 2015 .
  3. ↑ Olga Kharif: AT&T-Verizon-T Mobile Sets $ 100 Million for Google Fight: Tech. In: Bloomberg Businessweek. Bloomberg LP, August 29, 2011, archived from the original on November 12, 2011 ; Retrieved August 29, 2011 .
  4. ↑ Ryan Kim: Carriers Downsize Isis Plans, Reach Out to Credit Card Companies. In: Gigaom. Knowingly, Inc., May 4, 2011, accessed February 23, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Robin Sidel, Shayndi Raice: Pay-by-Phone Dialed back. In: The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, Inc., May 4, 2011, accessed February 23, 2015 .
  6. ↑ Mark Hachman: Isis Carrier Venture Signs Payment Deals with Visa, Mastercard, Others. In: PCMag.com. Ziff Davis, LLC. PCMag Digitial Group, July 19, 2011, accessed July 19, 2011 .
  7. ^ Ryan Kim: Credit card companies sign-up & back operator NFC platform. In: Gigaom. Knowingly, Inc., July 19, 2011, accessed February 23, 2015 .
  8. ↑ Ryan Kim: Handset makers line up behind Isis NFC payment platform. In: Gigaom. Knowingly, Inc., September 27, 2011, accessed February 23, 2015 .
  9. ^ Jeff Blagdon: NFC payment network ISIS gets its first banking partners - Chase, Capital One, and Barclaycard. In: The Verge. Vox Media, Inc., February 28, 2012, accessed February 23, 2015 .
  10. ↑ Stephanie Mlot: Isis Mobile Wallet Launches in Austin, Salt Lake City. In: PCMag. ZiffDavis, LLC, October 22, 2012, accessed February 23, 2015 .
  11. ^ Roger Cheng: Isis Mobile Wallet goes live nationwide, offers freebies. In: CNET. CBS Interactive, Inc., November 14, 2013, accessed February 23, 2015 .
  12. ↑ Don Reisinger: Isis Wallet becomes soft card to avoid confusion with militant group. In: CNET. CBS Interactive, Inc., September 3, 2014, accessed February 23, 2015 .
  13. ↑ Justin Wonderland: Apple Pay Registers 1 Million Credit Cards in 3 Days. In: TIME. Time, Inc., October 8, 2014, accessed October 29, 2014 .
  14. ↑ Chris Welch: Google Wallet will soon come pre-installed on Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile Android phones. In: The Verge. Vox Media, Inc., February 23, 2015, accessed February 23, 2015 .
  15. ^ Roger Cheng: Google Wallet, Softcard partner to take on Apple Pay. In: CNET. CBS Interactive, Inc., February 23, 2015, accessed February 23, 2015 .
  16. ↑ Dan Seifert: Verizon won't offer Google Wallet for the Galaxy Nexus because it uses a 'secure element'. In: The Verge. Vox Media, Inc., December 10, 2012, accessed February 23, 2015 .
  17. ^ Dan Seifert: Verizon's Isis Mobile Wallet app can use a phone's secure element, but Google Wallet can't. In: The Verge. Vox Media, Inc., October 19, 2012, accessed February 23, 2015 .
  18. ^ Jason Del Rey: New Google Wallet App Moves Past NFC and to All Major Carriers. iPhone version on tap? In: All Things D. Dow Jones & Company Inc., September 17, 2013, archived from the original on September 19, 2013 ; Retrieved February 26, 2015 .
  19. ↑ Chris Welch: Softcard is shutting down on March 31st, and Google Wallet will replace it. In: The Verge. Vox Media, Inc., March 5, 2015, accessed March 5, 2015 .
  20. ^ Neil McAllister: Google deal means game over for mobile payments firm Softcard. In: The Register. February 25, 2015, accessed February 26, 2015 .
  21. ↑ Ben Popper: Google introduces Android Pay, a replacement for its wallet app on mobile. In: The Verge. Vox Media, Inc., May 28, 2015, accessed May 28, 2015 .
  22. ^ Sarah Clark: Isis picks C-Sam to supply NFC mobile wallet technology. In: NFC World +. SJB Research, Ltd., August 4, 2011, accessed August 1, 2012 .
  23. ^ Sarah Clark: Isis picks Gemalto for NFC mobile commerce platform. In: NFC World +. SJB Research, Ltd., December 12, 2011, accessed August 1, 2012 .

Web links