By Vittorio Hernandez

Dallas, TX

Three major American technology firms have set up a joint venture to rival the mobile phone payment service of Google.

AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile invested over $100 million in Isis to gain a slice of the mobile commerce market, expected to top $670 billion by 2015.

Google rolled out its mobile wallet service in May to profit from the shifting consumer behavior of transacting using their cellphones. This year alone, payments coursed through handheld units are expected to reach $240 billion across the globe and the amount is expected to rise two to three-fold within the next five years.

Reports said that AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile formed Isis last year.

Their aim is to provide mobile phone owners the ability to receive and redeem coupons through their cellphones, and to make payments as well. The service is expected to be available in several U.S. cities such as Salt Lake City and Austin in mid-2012.

The three tech firms are expected to earn from the service by charging marketers a fee for sending offers to mobile phone owners. Isis has tied up with major players in the financial industry, including Visa, MasterCard, Discover Financial Services and American Express.

Besides the three U.S. tech firms, French company Ingenico is reportedly considering buying Hi-Media's electronic payment business, which has a lot of transactions in Europe that earned half of Hi-Media's $322 million sales in 2010.

Given the optimistic outlook for the mobile payment sector, experts said Hi-Media could fetch at least $174 million from other potential buyers such as Google, eBay or a private equity firm that want a larger share of the sector's market.

 

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