Isis nixes name

Isis is more than just an Ancient Egyptian goddess whose tears were believed to cause the annual flooding of the Nile. Isis is also the abbreviation of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a terrorist group that wishes to establish a pan-Islamic caliphate. Isis is also the mobile wallet service founded by AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile, and it has a branding problem. Isis CEO Michael Abbott said Monday that the firm is changing its name to avoid association with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, adding "however coincidental, we have no interest in sharing a name with a group whose name has become synonymous with violence and our hearts go out to those who are suffering." It might mean having to come up with then announce a new name, but then again, a forced rebranding might not be such a bad thing. AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile founded it in 2010 with the goal of developing a smartphone-based service to store payment cards, loyalty programs, and merchant offers. Despite gaining powerful backers like American Express and JPMorgan, the service has failed to catch on, and it faces competition from the likes of Google Wallet, PayPal, Square, Venmo, and many others. Maybe a merger with one or more of the above could be in order? Whichever route they take, it won't be the only "Isis" that isn't enjoying the name confusion. One of the world's leading centers for physics and life sciences research is located in the UK and it's also called Isis. It hasn't announced a rebranding yet, but it has made the British press.