Well, it's not exactly a warp drive, but the whole concept of a mobile wallet is definitely a step toward us living in "the future". With this clever little app, your smartphone can be transformed into a debit, credit, or gift card. It even stores and applies vendor deals and coupons. I spent the last month using Isis Mobile Wallet around Austin.
I was approached by the folks at M80, on behalf of Isis Mobile Wallet recently, and asked to try out their service and write a review. In exchange, they hooked me up with a brand new cell phone and a small pile of Isis cash. It's kind of ironic that they chose me for this little adventure, since I am sort of inept when it comes to electronic gadgetry.
Don't get me wrong, I was born and raised on a computer. I was using a keyboard before I could use a pencil. I was surfing the net back when they still called it "bulletin boards". My sisters and I played through the entire Sierra games catalog too. I'm not technology inept. I'm specifically cell-phone inept.
I still remember my first cellular device, an ugly black pager which probably weighed more than my last three cell phones combined. I begged my Dad for that thing so I could page my friends with secret codes like "BIGGIE" and "420". My Dad was totally baffled as to why I would want to give the whole wide world the ability to track me down. At the time, I laughed that off, but later, when I grew up a little, and the whole wide world wanted me to get a cell phone, I finally got it.
Due to the aversion I developed after that, the cell phones of my twenties didn't get charged much. I started off with a clunky old flip phone, then inherited a slew of fancy phones from Scott and his relatives. They were HUGE cell phone people. They loved 'em. Had to have the best and newest one all the time, which resulted in me always owning the second best, second newest one. It would have been pretty swanky, except that I hated cell phones. Every fiber in my being urged me to resist them..
These fancy cell phones all lived under my couch, uncharged. I could never figure the damn things out anyway. All those buttons, with the beeping, and the buzzing, and the irritating music. Ugh. People learned to stop giving me phones after a while, and I lived blissfully cellphone free for most of the 2000's.
It wasn't until the advent of smartphones that I really gave cell phones a chance. Two years ago I got my first smart phone, and became one of them, a phone person. Having the internet at my fingertips 24/7 is pretty damned convenient, not to mention addictive. The fact that my phone is also now a pretty decent camera means that it hardly leaves my side. Truthfully, I kind of hate myself for it.
I do everything with my phone. It's like a creepy little electronic sidekick. We tweet, take photos, prove Scott wrong at a moment's notice, I even read novels on my phone. Thanks to the Isis Mobile Wallet, we pay for stuff now too, which is great because I hate carrying a purse. Did you guys know that about me? It's true. I love looking at purses, but I really loathe carrying them around. Unless I'm toting my DSLR I hardly ever have enough stuff to fill a purse properly anyway. They always end up looking like floppy old sacks when I use them. I much prefer to rock my pockets. A wallet and a phone, that's all I need. When these mobile wallets take over, I'll be down to just one thing in my pocket. Imagine that. Carrying around one little device instead of a whole carpet bag wherever you go. Forget hoverboards, that is futuristic.
So what exactly is a mobile wallet, you ask? It's basically just an app that talks to your credit, debit, or
gift cards, then zaps the information into the payment terminal wirelessly. Anywhere you see that funny little vibrating hand icon (pictured below) you can use a mobile wallet. Isis is one of the newest mobile wallet apps on the block, and though I haven't tried any others, I can tell you that Isis is pretty easy to use. You enter your pin, hit the little green "ready to pay" button, than pretend to have your cell phone make out with the payment terminal. (Sounds of feigned pleasure are optional. "Mmm… oooo.. oh yeah!") I'm not just describing it that way to be stupid. Tapping, hovering, and sliding do not work so well, but in my experience, a long, slow kiss will get you results every time.
The wallet app also contains special offers and built-in loyalty cards from some of the vendors that accept the app. For example, when I went to Whole Foods there was a coupon for $2.00 off frozen food. At Macy's, the coupon gave me 15% off my order. Not too shabby. Getting the coupons to apply was a little tricky, but after a couple of tries I seemed to get it right.
Of course, not everybody is ready for the future just yet. Right now, Isis Mobile Wallet is only available in Austin, and in Salt Lake City. In both cities there are is a sizeable list of vendors that accept mobile wallets, but there are many, many more who do not. It will probably be a while before you can leave your cash and cards at home.
Even without the app being universally accepted, it's still surprisingly helpful to have. I can't tell you how many times I have run out the door without my wallet. I hardly ever leave without my phone. It's kind of cool to know that if I need a gallon of milk or a tank of gas there are some places (like Whole Foods, or about a gazillion gas stations) that I can hit up without cash or cards. Plus, being a child of the tech-age, I became immediately more lazy once I started using the Isis. Now I walk up to a checkout counter and feel put-out to fish through my wallet for a debit card. Can't I just use my phone? Jeeeeeeez.
P.S. Just in case it wasn't obvious, this post was sponsored by M80 on behalf of Isis Mobile Wallet. I received a phone, and Isis Cash Credit in exchange for writing two posts on my experience using the app. This is post one. Post two will be coming out in a week or so.