Google Unveils New ‘Tap To Pay’ System
At a press conference in New York, New York, this Thursday, Google unveiled its new ‘single tap to pay’ smart phone payment system, known as “The Wallet”. In a race that has been run by many other payment companies in the bid to offer Smartphone payment platforms, Google Inc. appears to be the first out of the gate with its trial of a single tap payment system.
Google Inc will be launching the trial run of the payment system in San Francisco and New York. MasterCard and Citibank are working in cooperation with Google and hope to open the system to consumers by this summer, and plan on expanding across the country shortly thereafter.
The launch did not go off without a hitch. The payment system, dubbed to be a ‘single tap system’, did not work as smoothly as intended. A Google executive demonstrated the platform at retail partner American Eagle Outfitters Inc in New York City, but ended up having to swipe twice and then sign at the terminal in order to complete the transaction. In a later statement, Google explained that each individual retailer will decide if a signature is required of the purchaser for security purposes. Although it has been cited to be more secure than conventional magnetic strip cards, some retailers will choose to err on the side of caution and still require a signature, most likely for larger purchases.
Partnering with Sprint, the third largest cell phone company in the U.S., The Wallet, will work with MasterCard and a prepaid debit card that Google will issue. Three other large national carriers have indicated their plans to form an alliance to provide a similar system names “ISIS”. Visa Inc. has also expressed their interest in launching a version of the wallet to compete with Google.
Currently the Google Wallet will only work with the Google Nexus S 4G, a Sprint Nextal carried phone. The system will work at the over 135,000 U.S. stores and restaurants that have MasterCard PayPass terminals. Although an exciting new platform, Google is facing similar challenges to those faced by other providers in launching a system of this magnitude. Making the platform available on a wide scale will not be an easy task considering that the 135,000 locations where it currently may be used is only a small fraction of the electronic terminals nationwide. In order to break into the national market, Google will have to ensure that the system is compatible with a much wider range of both phones and terminals.
Related Posts:
Leave a comment
Follow Us!
