Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) met its self-imposed goal to launch its mobile payment service this summer, as Google Wallet rolled out Sept. 19 to allow consumers in New York and San Francisco pay retailers with their mobile phones.Google Wallet's US launch was limited to Citi bank accounts and its own prepaid card, and was only accepted on MasterCard's PayPass terminals. Visa has wasted no time announcing that it too will be finding space in the Google Wallet, and that Wallet users will be able to pay anywhere there's a Visa PayWave terminal installed too.
Visa will be joining MasterCard in Google Wallet, making the Chocolate Factory's service acceptable just about everywhere - if you have the right app installed.The launch came with a surprise bonus: Visa, American Express and Discover have joined Citi and MasterCard as credit card partners.Unveiled in Google's New York office in May, Google Wallet includes a mobile application that communicates with smartphones equipped with near field communications (NFC), a short distance wireless technology.
Just about every payment terminal shipped these days supports NFC (the near-field communications radio standard used to make the payments), and millions of Europeans can already make payments of up to £15 with a tap of a card, though few of them are aware of it. Those payments are based on PayWave and PayPass - provided by Visa and MasterCard respectively - and most terminals support both these days.Sprint Nexus S 4G phone owners will receive access to the Wallet through an over-the-air update. Once they receive the app, Nexus S 4G owners can tap their phones against an NFC-enabled cash register to pay for goods at some 20 retailers and restaurants.
At the launch of Google's virtual pockets, a bank wanting to create an instance of their credit card for Wallet had to sign up with MasterCard, which was quite a limitation. Only now, thanks to Visa, they won't, and Google Wallet can play on an equal footing with operator-backed Isis as the shape of the industry starts to come together.That industry is settling on a model that adds an additional layer to the distribution of credit cards, allowing that layer freedom to make money from coupons and other kinds of on-handset advertising while the traditional players make money in the usual way.
Visa also said Google has licensed for payWave contactless payment software, the card provider's answer to MasterCard PayPass, at hundreds of thousands of cash registers all over the world. This deal will enable Visa account holders to make purchases using Wallet."Our goal is to make it possible for you to add all of your payment cards to Google Wallet, so you can say goodbye to even the biggest traditional wallets," Bedier said, adding the Wallet would be available on more phones in the future.
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Google's offering is physically inside the handset, so one can change operator or SIM without moving one's account. The consortia systems allow one to change handsets without affecting the account, but lock the user to the network operator. Banks will probably provide instances of credit cards suitable for all the popular platforms, so users will have to decide if they want to be locked to their network operator, or the Chocolate Factory, but they'll have to be locked somewhere.Without Visa's support Google Wallet was going to have a hard time making progress, but with it onboard the platform is free to compete with network operators for ownership of the customers' pockets, at least until Apple steps into the NFC arena and changes the rules for everyone
Google believes it has the advantage of incentive with Google offers, the company's Groupon clone service that entices consumers with discounts of 50 percent off or more for goods and services. Offers is live in three dozen cities around the country, including in San Francisco and New York, where Wallet is now available.
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