Isis Becomes Softcard (Sept. 3, 2014)
Isis Wallet is now Softcard. The NFC-based mobile payment initiative backed by AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile, was snakebit earlier this year when a jihadist militant group adopted the name Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and the acronym ISIS. The telecom joint venture announced in July it would be changing its name, and in a message posted by CEO Michael Abbott on the company Website today, he reiterated that “however coincidental, we have no desire to share a name with this group, and our hearts go out to those affected by this violence [in the Middle East].” Consumers can still use the current Isis Wallet and, in the next few weeks, the company said it will launch the updated Softcard app.
“Softcard has done well to make the change as quickly as it has and to have had the forethought to plan for this change before ISIS, the terrorist organization, had escalated its activities to current levels,” Rick Oglesby, senior research analyst, Double Diamond Group LLC, tells Paybefore. “Most merchants and other Softcard partners would be very hesitant to display or market anything with the name Isis, so the change is necessary and can only help.”
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