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Postmates will test delivery robots on San Francisco sidewalks
San Franciscans might soon see Postmates' cute delivery robot rolling down their sidewalks. According to TechCrunch, the food and groceries delivery service has secured what could be the first permit allowing sidewalk robotics operations in the city. Postmates introduced the big-eyed, Wall-E-like Serve in December, revealing its plans to send the robot with your orders to your homes and offices. You'll be able to unlock its compartment -- it can carry up to 50 pounds of goods and for up to 30 miles on a single charge -- using your phone or a code the service gives you.
Postmates unveils its adorable autonomous delivery robot
Postmates has revealed a cute autonomous delivery robot called Serve, which seems to take a design cue or two from Wall-E, with its big eyes and yellow finish. While the company has tested third-party autonomous delivery options in the past, it decided to build Serve from the ground up.
Isis Mobile Wallet teams up with American Express for nationwide rollout
Isis is gearing up to expand its Mobile Wallet service nationwide in the coming months, but its plans don't end there. The company has just announced that it's teaming up with American Express to bring the latter's Serve platform to Isis Mobile Wallet. Serve account holders will be able to make use of most of the features they already expect from Amex, like loading cash to their accounts, paying bills electronically and adding funds via direct deposit. By joining up with Isis, Serve is now unlocking the Mobile Wallet's capabilities, like NFC-powered payments at participating retail locations. Though Isis is currently limited to Austin and Salt Lake City, the company -- now with Amex on its side -- hopes to reach customers coast to coast before the year is out, though we don't have a specific date for availability just yet. For more info, check out the press release after the break.
Isis bolsters its mobile wallet with American Express cards
The carrier-backed Isis mobile payment service added a batch of new financial partners earlier this year, and it's now back with another fairly big addition. The venture announced today that it has brought American Express' various credit card offerings into the fold (including the company's own mobile-linked Serve cards), which will let users of those cards load them into the Isis app and make payments with their NFC-equipped smartphone -- when the service begins its rollout this summer, that is. As you may recall, American Express itself had already signed on as an Isis partner last year, but this is the first time that the company has committed to tying its cards to the platform -- which is a rather important little detail.
Verizon Wireless to tie American Express' Serve into mobile numbers, keep your credit card holstered
Good news online shopaholics, your tchotchke-buying ways are getting a couple of enablers in the form of American Express and Verizon Wireless. The two titans of industry have teamed up to integrate AMEX's PayPal-like Serve platform into the operator's phones and tablets in the next few months. The service will work by linking your existing mobile number to a Serve account, speeding up the checkout process and ensuring you never second-guess that impulse buy. Sure, this isn't the NFC-chipped, Isis future Big Red promised, but it's a good stopgap for virtual spendthrifts.
Amex wants to Serve up money from your iPhone
The ability to leave your wallet at home and pay -- or get paid -- for everything with your iPhone is a hot ticket for financial service providers, and today it got even hotter. Amex announced a new payment service called Serve that is available immediately, and while you'll still need a card for paying for items at locations that take American Express cards, that card is completely tied to your Serve account. The Serve card can be reloaded either from the Serve website or from an iPhone or Android-based phone app, then used at any Amex location. The company also wants you to use Serve to facilitate person to person transactions. Amex uses the examples of paying your nanny, paying an allowance to your kids or giving an employee an expense account. All the other person needs is a Serve account and a device to access the account. Got an iPhone? You can send or receive payments, and there's no need for a card-swiping dongle or a special Near Field Communication (NFC) case for your device. Available only in the US at this point, Amex also touts the security of the new system. Serve uses an "advanced" encryption system, a confidential PIN and multi-factor authentication to ensure that your account can only be used by you. Amex bought out would-be PayPal competitor Revolution Money last year and acquired the technology used in Serve. Earlier this month, Visa announced an agreement with Fiserv and CashEdge that will let the payment apps from those companies -- ZashPay and POPmoney -- work with Visa accounts. Not to be left out, Google is looking into an agreement with MasterCard and Citigroup for an NFC-based payment system. [via Macworld]
American Express challenges PayPal with 'Serve' digital payment platform
American Express may have been lagging a bit behind the likes of Visa and Mastercard with digital payments over the years, but it's making a pretty big play in the field today. It's just announced its new "Serve" digital payment platform, which is more or less a straight-on competitor to PayPal. That means you'll be able to transfer funds to your Serve account from your bank account or credit card, send money to others using either the website or mobile app (currently available for iOS and Android), and even link your account to a reloadable Serve card, which you can use at any retailer that accepts American Express credit cards. Nothing fancy like NFC payments just yet, but American Express is promising to "quickly evolve" the platform by adding new features and functionality, and it's hoping to kick start things by waiving most of the consumer fees for the first six months. Head on past the break for the complete press release, and hit up the source link below if you'd like to sign up.
