Google Wallet, the NFC and online payments service run by Google, may soon be available on a card. Not just a digital prepaid card — Google Wallet tried that already but abandoned the effort — but a real-life, tangible, physical card.
So why would a payments service aimed at replacing the wallet offer up a card to put in our wallets? It seems Google may issue the cards so those without NFC chips built into their smartphones can also take part in the payments system.
Early Tuesday, the help section of Google Wallet’s website made reference to a “Google Wallet card” that works with the Google Wallet app on phones running Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread) or newer, according to a report from TechCrunch. The reference didn’t remain live for very long, however. By the middle of the day, there was no mention of such a card in Google’s help pages.
Company officials didn’t respond to Wired requests for comment on the Google Wallet card listing or on the TechCrunch report. This would be expected, as Google generally doesn’t comment on upcoming product releases until it’s ready to formally announce things. And it doesn’t seem quite ready to announce the rumored card just yet.
Still, such a card might be a good move for Google. The company’s mobile payment service currently runs on just 10 smartphones in the U.S., despite being accepted at more than 100,000 retail locations. A card would expand the Google Wallet service not only to people who don’t have NFC phones but also to potential customers who have NFC-equipped phones that block the Google Wallet app — devices like the Samsung Galaxy Nexus on Verizon and the Galaxy S III on AT&T, Verizon or T-Mobile. Those three carriers have banded together to launch Isis, a direct competitor to Google Wallet.
Via TechCrunch
Google Card Would Put Google Wallet in Your Actual Wallet
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Google Card Would Put Google Wallet in Your Actual Wallet
