I was chatting online with a blogger yesterday and we got into a lively discussion about Google’s latest baby: the Google Wallet.
“Touch, pay and save with it.
In the last few thousand years, the way we pay has changed only three times: from coins, paper money, and then plastic cards.
We are now on the brink of the next big change.”
This is how Google’s vision for this mobile application goes.
Google Wallet is a phone app that literally turns your phone into a wallet at the point of sale.
The launch is supposed to be Google’s way of making mobile shopping a very pleasant experience for businesses, especially consumers. On the consumer’s side, payment is further facilitated; And from the point of view of the merchants or companies, promotions, discounts and offers such as gift vouchers and loyalty programs can now be easily facilitated. Credit cards can also be entered. In the future, Google envisions that airline boarding passes and tickets, ID, and even keys can be stored on it!
Google is currently still testing it in the US and is working with Citi, MasterCard, Sprint, and First Data, as well as several retailers. Expect it to officially launch in the summer.
It combines NFC or Near Field Communication with what they call PN65, an NFC-paired secure element chip. There is no need to swipe.
It is supposed to work in just two very simple steps:
1. Look for the Google Wallet or MasterCard PayPass symbols at checkout.
2. And just tap your phone on the reader!
Ready! The payment has been processed and made without any problems without using a credit card.
Well, you have to give it to Google to market it again as if it were something revolutionary when in reality; it’s not a totally foreign concept at all. I’d like to think that the reason Google partnered with MasterCard on this effort is that the latter has been using the tap feature of credit cards to pay wirelessly instead of swiping (the concept behind MasterCard PayPass). ).
And here’s a little bit of trivia that was shared with me regarding this new mobile wallet: Google’s VP of payments used to be PayPal.
Well, if you want to know and read more about it, you can check the full details on its official website.