Cashwrap iPhone Cases for Isis Mobile Wallet Make Debut with Verizon

Incipio’s Cashwrap NFC case to enable iPhone owners to use the Isis Mobile Wallet is available for Verizon Wireless, the accessories maker announced Thursday.

The Cashwrap case works with iPhone 4, 4s, 5, and 5s handsets and is available for $69.99 in Verizon retail stores and in the telco’s online store. It uses technology from U.S.-based DeviceFidelity, manufactured under license.

An AT&T version launched in January, along with a device made by another accessories supplier, Otterbox, for the iPhone 4 and 4s.

In AT&T retail stores and in the telco’s online store, Incipio’s Cashwrap case is listed at a retail price of $65 for the iPhone 5/5s version and $69 for the iPhone 4/4s. An AT&T “Isis Ready Case” for the iPhone 4/4s will retail for $65, and a charging case version will sell for $85.

It is not clear whether Otterbox will also be releasing a case for Verizon.

Currently, it also remains unclear when the third Isis telco, T-Mobile USA, will make an NFC-enabled iPhone case available to its customers.

“Each MNO has their own timeline for launch based on their store readiness and training,” a DeviceFidelity spokeswoman told NFC Times last month.

It is unlikely that T-Mobile subscribers will be able to purchase a case from an AT&T or Verizon store to use with a T-Mobile handset. When the AT&T cases were released in January, vendors made it clear that the cases were designed to work for AT&T subscribers with phones purchased from an AT&T store and running an AT&T Isis Mobile Wallet app downloaded from iTunes.

The launches of the iPhone cases for the two largest Isis telcos were held up because of a delay in approval by Apple of the wallet apps, said sources, though DeviceFidelity denies this.

Isis, which is facing a difficult challenge to gain widespread adoption for its wallet nationally, already offers service on Android NFC phones.

Incipio’s iPhone 5 and 5s cases will plug into the lightning connector on the iPhone, which means other lightning connector accessories could not be used while the case is on. The iPhone 4 and 4s cases plug into the 30-pin connector, which is also unavailable for other accessories while the case is on. On all models, Bluetooth accessories can still be paired and used while the case is on, a DeviceFidelity spokeswoman confirmed to NFC Times.