Isis may be the ancient Egyptian goddess of nature and magic, but she would surely have her lid flipped if she were given a digital wallet that only needs to be tapped in order to pay for something.

Such is the power of Isis, the name of the mobile commerce joint venture launched by a trio of U.S. mobile operators — AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA, and Verizon Wireless — to bring financial services brands' credit, prepaid, and banking customers to mobile. The venture this week signed Chase, Capital One and Barclaycard US, expanding on charter credit card members Visa, MasterCard, and American Express.

It's a "testament to the vision and commitment of Chase, Capital One and Barclaycard to make mobile commerce a real and positive experience for their customers," stated Michael Abbott, CEO of Isis. "Mobile commerce is more than a new way to pay; it's about extending the relationships consumers enjoy with their banks and merchants into a powerful and convenient new form factor."

Sprint, the fourth major player in the U.S. mobile-phone industry, has instead partnered with Google on its Google Wallet, which PC Mag notes has some kinks to work out. PayPal is also promoting its digital wallet to retailers and other businesses.Continue reading...

With the Occupy Wall Street movement now one month old and continuing to rattle workers in the financial industry around the world, a few big financial brands are being rattled independent of placard-carrying protesters in their midst.

Goldman Sachs lost $428 million in its latest quarterly earnings report, its second quarterly loss ever.

Citigroup has agreed to pay $285 million to settle SEC charges that it misled investors related to its mortgage businesses.

And Bank of America can't bank on being Number 1 anymore, as BofA cedes top spot to JPMorgan Chase this week.Continue reading...

While some companies are embracing the ‘Occupy’ demonstrations popping up across the United States, others like Bank of America have made the decision to ignore the impact that these demonstrations can have on consumer sentiment.

Less than two weeks after ‘Occupy Wall Street’ demonstrations began in downtown New York, executives at Bank of America thought it a good time to roll out a new $5 monthly charge to its customers making check card purchases in a given month. Two other large banks, JP Morgan and Wells Fargo, are also reported to be considering similar fees.

Bank of America is now taking heat (including being spoofed on Ellen) for its recent fee introduction from both legislators and the media. Senator Dick Durbin, D-Ill. urged customers to take their money to different banks. A Fox Business Network anchor went further and made headlines when she cut up a Bank of America debit card on air.

Consumer watchdogs will argue that the fee is not fair and that the government needs to protect consumers; however, the damage for Bank of America has already been done thanks to all of the negative press its announcement has received. Recent reports of sluggish performance on the bank’s website over the past few week have even been attributed to the bank’s fee announcement.Continue reading...

What to make of Fidelity International's appropriation of Chinese Cultural Revolution propaganda imagery — replacing Mao's Little Red Book and a gun, there are golf clubs and an iPad, for example — to pitch its China investment fund?

The digital campaign — generated by its Singapore office, where its agency must have made one helluva convincing pitch to equate the Chinese "consumer revolution" with the Cultural Revolution, in which an estimated 30 million people died — can be dismissed as creative expression based in ignorance. Still, it shows a surprising insensitivity to the region where the fund is based.Continue reading...

Following a strategic review of its global operations that was announced in May, HSBC will reap $2.4 billion by selling its credit card and retail services operations in the U.S. to Capital One. The $32.7 billion deal called "a home run" by TheStreet.com.

Stuart Gulliver, HSBC Group CEO, stated in a press release: "This transaction continues the execution of the strategy we announced at our Investor Day on 11 May to focus our US business on the international needs of customers in Commercial Banking, Global Banking & Markets, Retail Banking and Wealth Management and onshore Global Private Banking. Although dilutive in the short term, this transaction will reduce Group risk-weighted assets by up to US$40bn which, together with an estimated post-tax gain on sale of US$2.4bn, will allow capital to be redeployed over time."Continue reading...

Following a trial run at the South by Southwest digital conference in March, Foursquare and American Express are teaming up to offer discounts across the US to AmEx cardholders. AmEx commented tonight on Twitter: "Amex and Foursquare go national! Sync, explore, save... GET STARTED NOW."

As the New York Times notes, "Foursquare users are accustomed to receiving awards in the form of coupons and digital merit badges. But more substantial deals like those being offered to American Express cardholders may bring Foursquare and other location-based services further into the mainstream."

“In 2010, it was all about the check in,” commented eMarketer analyst Noah Elkin to the Times. “Now, it’s about checking out.”Continue reading...

Becoming the biggest name so far in June to have to parry a major cyberattack, Citigroup has joined the spring lineup of significant corporate victims of digital assaults, which includes Lockheed Martin, Sony, Google, Fox Networks and Michaels Stores.

And while company and brand executives grow increasingly frustrated by the attacks themselves and by vast damage to their businesses, their customers and clients, and their reputations, there’s something else vexing them nearly as much: Who's behind this, exactly, and why are they doing what they’re doing?Continue reading...

If New Zealand ends up banning brand endorsements by celebrities, they can always head to Poland.

Polish banks are on a spending spree so far this year to hire celebrity endorsements, such as Antonio Banderas, to bring the funny to the business of money.Continue reading...