Google Adds AMEX, Discover and Visa to Wallet App
September 20, 2011
By Erin Harrison, Executive Editor, Cloud Computing
Google (News - Alert) is literally helping your smartphone become your wallet by bringing American Express, Discover and Visa to its Wallet app payment system, according to media reports.
“We aim to eventually support all the payment cards you keep in your leather wallet today. So the only plastic you’ll need is your phone,” Google proclaims on its Wallet web page.
So far, the Wallet application Google released on Monday only works on one Sprint (News - Alert) smartphone; MasterCard Inc., the other major payment processor, is already part of the project.
“Google Inc. on Monday said it has licensed the right to add virtual ‘cards’ from the three payment networks to its Wallet application,” the Associated Press reported.
As TMCnet’s Beecher Tuttle reported, the company’s new mobile payment system, which allows smartphone owners to make point-of-sale purchases by simply waving their device over scanners, will not make many early waves simply due to its low penetration rates.
In May, Google announced its partnership with Citibank MasterCard (News - Alert), First Data and Sprint.
“Today, we’ve joined with leaders in the industry to build the next generation of mobile commerce,” said Stephanie Tilenius, vice president of commerce and payments at Google, according to an official Wallet blog post. “With Citi, MasterCard, First Data and Sprint we’re building an open commerce ecosystem that for the first time will make it possible for you to pay with an NFC wallet and redeem consumer promotions all in one tap, while shopping offline.”
Google Wallet is built to work with the MasterCard PayPass network – a merchant point-of-sale service that allows consumers to tap to pay. Google Wallet is being accepted at more than 135,000 PayPass-enabled merchants nationally and more than 311,000 globally.
According to the AP, Google’s vice president of payments, Osama Bedier, couldn’t say when cards from Visa Inc., American Express (News - Alert) Co. and Discover Financial Services would work with the wallet.
Bedier told the AP that Google is working with “all major manufacturers of smartphones” that run on Google’s Android software to incorporate chips that communicate with payment terminals. Samsung (News - Alert) Electronics Co. makes the Nexus S phone that works with the wallet today, according to news reports.
Research firm Gartner recently speculated that total mobile payments for 2011 will exceed $86 billion, up 75.9 percent from the $48.9 billion generated last year. However, the mobile payment industry is not growing as fast as initially anticipated due to slow uptake amongst consumers.
Erin Harrison is Executive Editor, Strategic Initiatives, for TMC, where she oversees the company's strategic editorial initiatives, including the launch of several new print and online initiatives. She plays an active role in the print publications and TMCnet, covering IP communications, information technology and other related topics. To read more of Erin's articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by Jennifer Russell