In the race for the mobile credit card processing business, Google is gaining on the competition. The company's newest Google Wallet app will allow for the use of multiple credit cards and make a payment with a mobile device.
Previously, Google Wallet worked only with Citibank cards and accounts, MasterCard branded credit cards, and very specific phones - phones that were available only on the Sprint network. Recent changes have improved the service so that Google Wallet can be used with any credit card, but phone choices are still limited. Only Sprint or Virgin Mobile devices as well as Google’s new tablet, the Nexus, are capable of making payments wirelessly. Currently, six phones have the chips necessary to make payments with Near Field Communications technology.
The service is simple to use. Those who make payments through Google Payments or through the Google Play store can choose to store their credit card numbers on the cloud. By storing your credit card number with Google’s new service, a customer can immediately load Google Wallet and use the app to make payments with their credit card.
Google’s advances come as the company navigates the complexities standing in the way of a true mobile payments system. In previous releases, Google Wallet was intended to work by storing credit card data on the device, not the cloud. Banks, payment processors, and other companies had to approve of the data storage for Google to move forward. Now that credit card information will be loaded online and stored much in the same way other online retailers store payment information, the company can press forward without further negotiation.
For consumers, this is a huge leap forward. Now the cell phone manufacturers need to get on board to see it through. Soon enough the world will be paying their bills and buying groceries with their mobile phones.