It is now official and Google has just announced not only Google Wallet, but also Google Offers. The new NFC payment system will be kicking off today for select beta testers in San Fransisco, and NYC with more cities coming soon and will officially launch nationally this summer. Google also mentioned it will work with the existing Mastercard Paypass.
Google is working to bring shopping offline and online together. They have stated that it is already rolled out and in place at over 300,000 stores and 100,000 in the U.S as well as having partnered with Mastercard, Citi, and First Data for Security, as well as Sprint and their Nexus S 4G. More details will be coming soon.
Stores Google has partnered with is a huge list but a few they mentioned were Macy’s, Subway, Walgreens, Toys R’ Us, American Eagle and many many more. Some of the good bits of information is they will be supporting multiple cards, as well as a Google Pre-Paid card that you can load with funds from any debit or credit card like shown above. Obviously there is security concerns for Google Wallet and they have stated they’re working extremely hard to keep things and your data safe and data “skimming” will not be possible. The first thing you do when setting up Google Wallet is enter a password or pin code, as well as the app never actually showing your card or pin number (except on setup).
Also launching is something called Google Offers. It will feature Google’s offer of the day and there will be many many offers of the day from many partners. You can save it with a click then tap your device at the merchant to purchase, or even simply show the offer on your device to the cashier while checking out. Google offers will also be partnering with multiple stores, they mentioned and showed American Eagle showing special Google Offer deals like 20% off store-wide for Google Offers users. You can see all these offers right on your device.
Google plans to put everything in your Google Wallet from boarding passes, hotel keys and more in the future. Stay tuned as we hear more as the event unfolds.
Google announces there mobile payment system Google Wallet http://bit.ly/h1rLOK
The Google’s step towards a open commerce ecosystem is going
to draw a lot of attentions from the retailers as they get a new way to target
their potential customers and also increase the buyer population. However, the
geotargeting option might be a safeguard measure to save the public from
privacy intrusion.