Google: one wallet to contain them all?
The Internet search engine giant enters the innovation race in an attempt to efficiently enable smartphones to act as e-wallets, as banks are seen as sluggish and passive. June 28, 2011 | Aldo JosonGoogle does not only want to have a piece of your wallet—the online services juggernaut wants to be your wallet, via its newest venture, Google Wallet, launched in late May as its best effort in the exciting, rumour-rich and potentially rewarding field of near-field communication (NFC) mobile payments. While Google is not the first to tie an NFC-enabled phone’s payment capabilities to an account or credit card–Barclays and Orange launched this service in the UK almost at the same time as Google—it is a significant entrance of an IT giant better known for its dominance in online search queries, its now near-ubiquitous Google Maps, and its cloud-enabled thumbdrive-killing Google Docs. NFC micropayments is nothing new as a lot of smartcards operate in the world’s many bus and rail terminals. Some of them even allow relatively cheap expenses for items from local fast foods and even convenience stores. But these smartcards usually involve an extra process of having to “load” the cards with value either debited from a bank account or credited from hard cash via dedicated machines. To circumvent the credit-reload process, Visa and Mastercard released their versions of NFC-enabled debit cards with Visa Paywave and MasterCard PayPass. Each time a payment was made, money was deducted from the customer’s own bank account. A year ago, startup Square from Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, enabled iPhones to act as POS terminals with the use of the eponymous peripheral where credit cards may be swiped and credits transferred to a merchant owner’s bank account. The NFC-equipped smartphone is yet another step in the evolution to cashless payments, as attached peripherals and physicals are rendered unnecessary—the mobile phone unit alone is enough. Google claims that this is “the beginning of the new era of commerce that will benefit both consumers and merchants” and that it shares its vision with its “launch partners today” which... Please login to read the complete article. If you already have an account, you can login now or subscribe/register.
Categories: Channels, Innovation, Mobile Banking, Technology & OperationsChannels,Innovation,Mobile banking,technology, Channels,Innovation,Mobile Banking,Technology & Operations, Keywords:Google Wallet, Visa, MasterCard Google Wallet, Visa, MasterCard
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