It has been widely rumoured that Google’s latest application will launch this week, after months of waiting.
Google Wallet has been coined (forgive the pun) as ‘the next big shift’ in economic payment by its creators, and may well become the next revolutionary item on the list of Google’s innovative and world-changing creations.
The application, which is initially only available on Android-enabled mobile phones, has been branded by Google as ‘the future of commerce’, and has the capability to store ‘virtual payment cards’, potentially putting the plastic payment card at risk of obsolescence if the project takes off.
Google has also said it hopes that with time things such as loyalty cards, gift cards, receipts and even boarding passes will be available to store on the application, and that essentially the Google Wallet will contain ‘everything you need to carry’.
Google’s main partner in the project has been MasterCard, and with the backing of such an established brand in this field, it seems that the Google Wallet may be a precursor to a large shift in the way we pay. The application will initially only support Citi MasterCard and the Google prepaid card, which can link up with most credit cards. Gift cards from selected participating companies will also be available to use on the new system.
Google launches its latest mobile phone, the Nexus Prime, in October, and it has been suggested quite reasonably that the release of Google Wallet has been chosen to coincide with this launch in order to promote and establish the application to the new demographic of Google mobile phone owners.
Further details can be found at www.google.com/wallet.
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