The JV - owned by AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless - has confirmed that from 22 October users in Austin, Texas, and Salt Lake City, Utah, will be able to make contactless payments with their mobile phones.

To use the service, customers will need NFC-enabled handsets and to download the Isis apps. By the end of the year, the telcos say they plan to have 20 compatible phones.

American Express, Visa, MasterCard and Discover, have all given their backing to the project, committing their cards to the wallet, connecting members and merchant network. Terminals manufacturers VeriFone, Ingenico, ViVOtech and Equinox are all also on board.

Isis had planned to launch its commercial trials over the Summer but was forced to delay, leaving it lagging further behind the rival Google Wallet system, which launched last year, with the Sprint telco on board.