We blogged in May about Google’s plans for ‘Google Wallet’. A truly paperless money transfer system for mobile phones, Google Wallet works with your Android running NFC enabled mobile phone(currently only the Nexus S has NFC installed), Citi and MasterCard accounts. You can also make transfers via Google’s Prepaid card and your phone has to run on Sprint’s network.
Google officially begun to roll the service out today after months of testing. All you have to do to make payments is to tap your phone against the merchant’s NFC Terminal. Presto! The deal is done. Google has teamed up with major American retailers like Foot Locker, Radioshack, Office Max and Toys R Us for this initial rollout. The service will come soon to Macy’s, Bloomingdales and Subway. If you’re a Google Wallet user, you’ll also receive perks and special discounts from partner retailers.
To find a store in your town that accepts Google Wallet, look out for one of these symbols:
If you’re a business owner and you want to make Google Wallet acceptable at your store, go here http://www.google.com/wallet/merchants.html.
Personally, I think this is a good service, as soon as it can roll across a large number of retailers. It’ll reduce the need to move so much cash around when you need to buy expensive stuff. It’ll also make payments faster.
What do you think about Google Wallet? Is it going to be good enough compared to PayPal’s upcoming NFC money transfer? Considering that PayPal already has a payment system for money transfers in place.
Tags : android, Google, google wallet, mobile, NFC
