Google Wallet

A Peet’s Coffee in San Francisco (what happened to NYC?) is showing a Google Wallet logo beneath its original MasterCard PayPass NFC reader.

It appears that there is minimal upgrade to get Mastercard PayPass systems upgraded to be Google Wallet systems.  In fact, from the merchant standpoint, it may just be upgraded signage.

That’s good news for Google and its rollout plans.  PayPass locations are all over the place and Google wants to hit the ground running.

As of March 2011, more than 92 million MasterCard PayPass cards and devices have been issued for use at approximately 311,000 merchant locations worldwide, including new acceptance environments such as vending, taxis, tollbooths, transit, football/baseball stadiums and golfing events.
In addition to robust deployments at major merchants in the US such as McDonalds, 7-Eleven, CVS, Duane Reade, Sheetz, Hess, Wegmans, The Home Depot, Best Buy, Gulf Oil, Sports Authority, BJ’s, Meijer’s, Whataburger, Tim Horton’s, Shop-Rite, Foot Locker, Sunoco and BP.PayPass has been rolled out in 37 countries. Outside the US, PayPass speeds consumers through the checkout process at  McDonald’s (US, Poland, UK), Burger King (Turkey, UK), 7-Eleven (Australia), Starbucks (Turkey, Malaysia, UK), Petro-Canada (Canada) Tim Horton’s (Canada), Boots (UK), Tesco (UK), Carrefour, Cora and Intermarche (all 3 in France) and in many other types of merchants including supermarkets, cinemas, gas stations, fast food and transit.

Google is expected to release Google Wallet officially today and has created a very amusing ad (if you are a Seinfeld fan), below.
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TechCrunch is reporting that Google Wallet will most likely launch tomorrow, citing the above document being sent to partners. Google said Wallet was on its way in the summer, yet we never saw it. Friday, Google also released a teaser for Wallet (seen after the break) that teased the payment service as coming soon. As it says above, Wallet is launching September 19th, most likely to coincide NFC World Congress which kicks off in France tomorrow.

Google Wallet is partnering with MasterCard, Citi Bank, Sprint, and First Data. Wallet will first be available in San Francisco and New York, using NFC and the Wallet app to be able to pay for goods from merchants. Stick with us tomorrow, and we’ll give you all the official details.

Teaser after the break:

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKGptWtzeaU]

Google has posted their first Google Wallet ad on their YouTube page, featuring Seinfeld’s George Constanza. Constanaza and his exploding wallet have found out why they need the new payment service. But seriously Google, when’s this going to launch? (via TechCrunch)

Image courtesy of Engadget

Google Wallet, a mobile payment service announced in May, lets you pay on the go by tapping a phone to an intelligent terminal. If a splashy video tour from Monday is anything to go by, it should forever change – for the better – how we as a society pay for goods and services. Initial implementation requires a MasterCard PayPass terminal which accepts digital receipts and coupons from mobile devices, over the air, and then carries out transactions with financial institutions.

MasterCard today shed more light on a mobile application they’ve been developing in partnership with Google. A quick visit to Engadget which has a cool video tour proves the app works as advertised: Tap a phone to a terminal and that’s it. The app will allow users to set spending limits, set alerts for overseas activity and restrict purchases across categories so, say, your spouse can only pay for dinning, movie tickets and gas, excluding clothes, make up and other impulse purchases.

The app currently works on Sprint’s Nexus S 4G but they are planning on supporting more devices with an NFC chip. The software will also enable MasterCard’s QkR platform for mobile purchasing that supports QR codes, television audio signals encoded with purchase data and even tiny NFC chips embedded into real-world objects, such as fast-food tabletops. These QkR-supported features should be realized across Android, iOS, Windows Phone Mango and BlackBerry platforms, MasterCard promises.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RJaAUeASyU]

In May, Google proclaimed the end of the wallet by announcing a new service called Google Wallet that promises to make mobile paying as easy as tapping a phone to an intelligent terminal which can take digital receipts and coupons and carry out the transaction. The company followed-up with a splashy video that highlighted the bright future of digital invoicing. Four months in, people still carry traditional wallets in their pockets. Heck, some even keep an iPhone in their wallet.

The Next Web points to an interesting video put together by AdZag, explaining why Google Wallet is a disruptive technology of the future rather than a fad. It’s actually the clip Google showed at the Wallet presser, it just hasn’t been available online until now. Google Wallet’s biggest hurdle is availability….

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If you’re still wondering why all the fuss about Google Wallet, here’s a little video from Google that will help you process today’s announcement.

[youtube=http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZGoXvzW4WU&w=670&h=411]

Anyone notice the excitement, catchy tunes, the excessive use of superlatives and the overall shininess in Google’s product videos lately? Yeah, very Applefied.

When you pay with your phone, it automatically redeems offers and earns loyalty points for you

Boom, Google Wallet has gone live at the just-finished presser in Google’s New York office. The search Goliath means business, that’s for sure. They’ve managed to convince the journos like us who have seen it all that Google Wallet is no toy. We have here an end-to-end mobile payment solution which quite possibly marks an inflection point in e-commerce. I ain’t drinking Google’s Kool-Aid, bear with me for a sec.

There are two pieces to it: Google Wallet itself, which runs as a native app on your mobile device equipped with an NFC chip, and Google Offers, a Groupon-like service providing rebates, savings and offers that can be easily redeemed on your device, at the points of sale. One click on an offer on the web sends the coupon over-the-air to your devices authorized for Google Wallet. You can also use your device’s camera to snap the Google Offers icon found on printed marketing materials such as in-store posters, banners, print ads and so forth.

Paying for goods is a one-tap affair involving waving your device in front of the wireless payment terminal at participating merchants. The transaction is processed within seconds and directly settled with your issuing bank. In addition, your device negotiates with the merchant’s terminal to automatically redeem offers and earn loyalty points for you. Someday, Google boldly proclaimed, stuff like boarding passes, tickets, ID and keys will be stored in your Google Wallet. You will also get electronic receipts that will eliminate bills on paper. Looking good so far. What’s the catch?

The keynote demonstration had Google’s speaker buying a shorts for his daughter. He waived the phone and the clerk’s terminal took into account his loyalty card and automatically deducted his saved coupon. The live transaction was handled successfully in the second try.

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