AT&T-Verizon-T Mobile Sets $100M for Mobile Payment Fight

Verizon Wireless, AT&T and T- Mobile USA plan to invest more than $100 million in their joint venture that lets consumers pay for goods with mobile phones.

The investment sets up a showdown between the venture, known as Isis, and rivals like a mobile-payment service from Google. The amount of funding depends on how successful Isis is at attracting banks and merchants. The carriers have created the alliance to grab a piece of the market for mobile commerce, which lets consumers buy things by tapping devices against a reader at checkout. The market may reach $670 billion by 2015, Juniper Research says. The carriers may invest hundreds of millions of dollars in the venture if it gains followers, one person said, helping it catch up with Google, which unveiled its own mobile-wallet service in May.