The Softcard mobile wallet service is to close down altogether at the end of March 2015 in the wake of a deal between Google and the three US carriers that founded the NFC payments venture... More
SpotMe app lets Android users spend Apple Pay cash
Android users can spend their iPhone-owning friends’ money using a new app that can capture NFC payment transaction tokens from other devices and hold onto them before spending them later. More
Google confirms Android Pay at MWC
Google is building a framework for mobile payments in Android, a senior executive has revealed at Mobile World Congress... More
Samsung Pay’s success in the US is not assured, says expert
Google’s recent acquisition of Softcard’s NFC payments business may hit Samsung Pay’s prospects for widespread US adoption hard, says a respected payments consultant... More
Google ‘to release Android Pay API in May’
Google is working on an Android Pay API that will be “built from the ground up” for Android developers and makes use of host card emulation, “a source close to the matter” has told Ars Technica... More
Softcard confirms it is to shut down
Google’s deal with AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless to have Google Wallet pre-installed on their Android phones marks the end of the road for Softcard, the NFC payments joint venture set up as Isis by the three US carriers in 2010... More
Google teams up with US carriers for NFC mobile payments
Google Wallet will be pre-installed on all Android phones supplied by Softcard partners AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless from “later this year”, Ariel Bardin, Google’s vice president of payments, has announced... More
Google renews wallet discussions with carriers
Google is in a new round of discussions with mobile network operators to get its Google Wallet payments service widely distributed on mobile devices, the Wall Street Journal reports, with incentives on offer believed to include paying carriers to feature Google Wallet prominently on their Android phones and, potentially, a share of advertising revenues... More
Google exits Kenyan payments venture
BebaPay, a payment card launched by Google and Equity Bank in Kenya in 2013 that let users pay for their bus fare via NFC, is to be discontinued on March 15... More
Google testing new payments service?
Google is testing a service called Plaso “that allows people carrying Android phones to pay at retailers like Papa John’s and Panera Bread by saying their initials to employees at the cash register,” The Information reports, citing “four people who have been involved in or briefed about it.” The pilot has been live since “last fall”... More
Knit extends Google Cardboard with NFC objects
Creative technology agency Knit has developed a range of NFC-enabled Cardboard Objects that are designed to fit inside a modified version of Google’s Cardboard virtual reality (VR) headset to let users view “relevant app-based content” using real world objects... More
Gmail sends money in the UK
Google is expanding availability of its Send Money in Gmail service, enabling users in the UK to send money to friends and family from within their Gmail account... More
Google in talks to buy Softcard to combat Apple Pay?
Google is responding to the successful launch of Apple Pay by going on the mobile payments acquisition trail, according to industry rumours — and US carrier-owned NFC venture Softcard, which laid off 60 staff last week, could be a key target... More
Google Wallet adds Touch ID
The iOS version of Google Wallet now enables users to use Touch ID fingerprint verification for “secure and quick access” to the mobile wallet... More
US consumers trust banks most with card data
Three in four online buyers (76%) are dissatisfied with the strength of credit card and personal information security among retailers with some 72% of respondents saying they trust their own bank the most with credit card data and personally identifiable information, US research from Bizrate Insights reveals... More
Google Wallet 8.0 now available
Version 8.0 of Google Wallet is now available to download from Google Play in the US... More
Outspoken texts offers to wallets
Mobile messaging provider Outspoken has added support for Google Wallet to its digital wallet delivery solution, enabling marketers to distribute offers to a user’s mobile wallet via a text message... More
Google Wallet offers discounts
Google Wallet has announced availability of a variety of discounts to online shoppers who choose to Buy With Google this holiday season... More
30% of US smartphone owners to use mobile payments this holiday season
Nearly one in three (30%) US smartphone owners say they plan to use mobile payment offerings such as Apple Pay or Google Wallet for shopping in stores this holiday season, Bluetooth ‘connected card’ maker Stratos’ 2014 Holiday Mobile Payments Survey has found... More
Google Wallet adds refer-a-friend program
Google has introduced a refer-a-friend program to reward consumers with US$5 each time they introduce a friend to Google Wallet... More