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Tag: Google Wallet

  • George Costanza, Google Wallet, Nanoparticles & A Guy In A Wing Suit

    We’ve got an interesting mix of videos today.

    If you haven’t seen our other video round-ups from this week, you can find them at:

    09/16
    09/15
    09/14

    Microsoft may have tapped Jerry Seinfeld for an ad campaign in the past, but Google has gone the George Costanza route to sell Google Wallet:

    Business Insider’s Henry Blodget points to this video of what he describes as an “Insane Video Of Guy In Wingsuit Flying Through Trees.” That about sums it up. Somehow this seems worth passing along. Don’t let the title “Grinding the Crack” fool you.

    How to make quantum dots (nanoparticles) (via Slashdot):

    This one was shared by Adobe’s John Nack on his blog. It comes from Junebum Park:

    The Adobe Carousel team answered reader questions in this video:

    Webcam 101 for Seniors has been trending all week, but we haven’t included it yet, so if you haven’t seen it yet, here it is:

    Jeff Jarvis shared this one on Google+. As he notes, the punchline is in English:

    This apparently won YouTube’s Next Up contest in Japan

    From the Ellen Degeneres Show, David Beckham went under cover selling cologne at Target:

  • AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile To Reportedly Put $100 Million More Into Isis

    AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile To Reportedly Put $100 Million More Into Isis

    Back in November, we told you about a joint venture between AT&T and Verizon Wireless (it also includes T-Mobile, which AT&T is trying to acquire) on a mobile payments network. The offering, called Isis, allows users to pay for purchases from their smartphones.

    Now, Isis is getting a new injection of funds to the tune of $100 million from the three mobile carriers, as it aims to take on Google Wallet, according to a report from Bloomberg.

    “Our mobile commerce network, through relationships with merchants, will provide an enhanced, more convenient, more personalized shopping experience for consumers,” Isis CEO Michael Abbott said back when it was announced.

    “While mobile payments will be at the core of our offering, it is only the start,” he said at the time. “We plan to create a mobile wallet that ultimately eliminates the need for consumers to carry cash, credit and debit cards, reward cards, coupons, tickets and transit passes.”

    Google introduced Google Wallet in May as an app that turns your phone into your wallet:

    “A key benefit to retailers will be the integration of coupons, or offers, into Google Wallet. We’ve been testing a variety of offers – from discounts directly within search ads to check-in offers to offers in Google Places,” said Google Director of Commerce Partnerships, Spencer Spinnell. “Over time, consumers will be able to save each of these offers directly to their Google Wallet. That means consumers will get the benefit of carrying their offers with them at all times, bringing retailers targeted foot traffic.”

    With Google trying to acquire Motorola Mobility, it will be quite interesting to see how all of this plays out. Remember that Google Wallet will likely be integrated with Google Offers and Google+.

  • Google to Integrate Google Offers with Google Wallet and Google+

    Google to Integrate Google Offers with Google Wallet and Google+

    Sooner or later, you’re probably going to see many of Google’s new products much more heavily integrated with other existing Google products, as well as with each other. Google+ is already integrated with Google properties by the simple fact that it appears in a navigation bar across many of them (although I’m still wondering about its absence from YouTube).

    The Gmail team is actively looking to get it integrated with Gmail in new and useful ways. As our CEO Rich Ord pointed out in a Google+ post, Googlers have been heavily emphasizing its potential for businesses.

    Expect integration of Google Offers, Google+ and Google Wallet. Words from Google today indicate that they’ll all be meeting one another in the future.

    Stephanie Tilenius, VP of Google Commerce is quoted as saying at the MobileBeat conference, “One of the things we are going to do with Google Offers and Google Wallet is embed them in our products. So our new Google+ product, we’re going to have it there, search and apps. The goal is to…think about Google Maps, with 200 million mobile users. If you’re living [in] an area, we’re going to find offers. We’ll work with all of our Google properties, they will be integrated, but it will take some time to get there.”

    If Google is looking to dominate so many spaces (search, advertising, offers, social, payments, etc.) it makes a great deal of sense that they tie products to one another in any way that is usable. Google+‘s user base is growing rapidly (based on estimates and reports), but those Google accounts in general are numbered way, way higher. Think about every person that uses Google+, Gmail, Google Docs, YouTube, etc. with an account. Any one of these people is a potential user of one of of the other services for the simple fact that they already have an account.

    Even if you don’t have a Google+ account yet, in some ways you really do. You just don’t have the features activated. The account is the Google account. The ID. With Google also providing the gateway to the web for a lot of people (and growing) via Chrome, Android, and Chrome OS, the potential for pushing its services and the simple convenience factor of using them both increase as well.

    I think I’ve said at some point before, that it’s almost as if Google itself (for the sake of comparing with Facebook) is the real social network, and all of these different products are just features.

  • Are You Ready to Pay Retailers with Your Phone?

    Retrevo has released the results of a study, looking at the buzz surrounding Google Wallet, NFC, and new ways to pay for products in-store with a mobile device. The study finds 79% of people aren’t ready to start using their phones to pay for goods in stores.

    “Even for the mobile wallet optimists the NFC glass is only about a quarter full,” says Retrevo. “The fact is, only around 21% of consumers would like to buy things with a mobile wallet and are waiting for that capability to be in their next cell phone. Unfortunately for mobile wallet providers, the overwhelming majority (79%) of consumers in this study, are either not interested in mobile wallets or don’t know what a mobile wallet is. It also looks like interest in mobile wallets divides along generational lines with 28% of 18 – 35 year olds expressing much stronger interest in NFC than the large majority (75%) of the 50 and older set who don’t want anything to do with it. Men appear to be more interested in buying things (27%) with their phones as women (15%) with nearly twice as many men as women indicating they would like to be able to buy things with their cell phones.”

    My guess is that as the mobile wallet products hit the market more, on phones people are using anyway, they’ll catch on more, and the buzz will grow, provided retailers adopt these payment methods on a mainstream scale. That obviously will have a great deal to do with it.

    Retrevo study on mobile wallets

    Some highlights from the study:

    – 40% of iPhone owners are the most likley to want NFC (mobile wallet) compatibility in their next cell phone, compared with Android owners (24%)
    – 75% of people over age 50 were not at all interested in a phone with a mobile wallet
    – Men are more interested in a mobile wallet (27%) than women (15%).
    – Retrevo asked cell phone owners what company they would trust to provide a mobile wallet:
    – 36% Said Google
    – 33% Said Apple
    – 32% Said Visa, Master Card or American Express
    – 26% Said AT&T, Verizon or their cell phone carrier
    – 33% Said none of the above

  • 43 Things You Should Know About Google Wallet

    43 Things You Should Know About Google Wallet

    This week, Google introduced Google Wallet, which could either be representative of the future of how we pay for things and organize our daily lives or a massive bust. Time will tell. In the meantime, we’ve compiled a great deal of information about the product, and what’s known about it before its true launch.

    Share your thoughts about Google Wallet with us in the comments.

    Here is what you need to know about google Wallet:

    1. Google Wallet stores virtual versions of credit cards and coupons on a phone.

    2. It will also store loyalty and gift cards in the future.

    3. Google Wallet is a free app.

    4. Google Wallet is separate from Google Checkout, and can be thought of as the brick-and-mortar counterpart to the online payment nature of Google Checkout

    5. Google Wallet uses Near Field Communication to allow consumers to make contactless payments.

    6. Google Wallet is currently field testing, but will become available to consumers this summer.

    7. At first, Google Wallet will only be available on the Nexus S 4G by Google from Sprint, but Google will expand it to other devices/platforms in time.

    8. Citi, MasterCard, First Data, and Sprint are launch partners for Google Wallet.

    9. Google is also partnering with point of sale systems companies, including Verifone, Hypercom, Ingenico, and ViVOTech, to “introduce rich interaction between Google Wallet and the point of sale.”

    10. Google says it continues to partner with issuing banks, payment networks, point of sale systems, semiconductor companies, mobile handset manufacturers, mobile operators and merchants on Google Wallet-related elements.

    11. Google is being sued by PayPal, who had two executives leave for Google. More on this here.

    12. If you want to be notified about Google Wallet availability and product updates, you can give Google your email address here.

    13. Google Wallet will support Citi PayPass eligible MasterCard credit cards and the Google prepaid card upon launch, but will support more in the future.

    14. Users can pay with Google Wallet anywhere MasterCard PayPass is accepted.

    15. Users can tap their phones on the merchant’s PayPass terminal to transmit payment details.

    16. You don’t have to have a network connection to make a payment.

    17. You can’t use Google Wallet if your phone battery is dead.

    18. Currently, when a user adds their Citi MasterCard to Google Wallet, they can immediately spend up to $100, but to access their full line of credit, they’ll have to wait for Citi to send an activation code to enter into Google Wallet.

    19. Google has very ambitious goals for Google Wallet, saying one day it may store your boarding passes, ID, and even keys.

    20. Google Wallet will sync to your Google Offers (Google’s recently launched Groupon competitor, which it also intends to integrate into other Google products like Search, Latitude, Maps, and Shopper.

    21. According to reports, there will be stickers that customers can put on any device that can hold the information for one card, and when tapped on an NFC device, would work with Google to handle payments.

    Security and Privacy Concerns

    22. If your phone with Google Wallet is lost or stolen, Google says you should contact your credit card company for assistance, and that you should report your phone lost/stolen and basically take the same precautions you would have anyway.

    23. Google Wallet will allow you to remove all cards from your phone by resetting it (which also removes all transaction data).

    24. Google says it protects your payment credentials by storing them in a chip called the “Secure Element” that is contained within the Nexus S 4G, and is isolated from the phone’s main OS and hardware. Google does not say how this will be addressed with other devices. That’s probably for the manufacturers to determine.

    25. Google does enforce a PIN number.

    26. In terms of the possibility of a malicious app accessing your credit card, Google says, “Both the Android platform and the Secure Element are designed to prevent this from happening. Android enforces strict access policies so that malicious applications wouldn’t have access to data stored by Google Wallet. Even Google Wallet itself has very limited access to the Secure Element, and cannot read or write data from its memory. There are multiple levels of protection for data stored on the Secure Element and it is protected at the hardware level from snooping or tampering.”

    27. Note that malware did infect Android apps as recently as March.

    28. Google’s response to the possibility of someone getting close to your phone to read sensitive data, is, “The NFC antenna in your phone is only activated when the screen is powered on, and even if the antenna is on and in proximity of a reader, payment credentials can only be transmitted from the Secure Element to a payment terminal if you first enter your Google Wallet PIN.”

    29. As far as being held liable for unauthorized transactions on credit cards store on Google Wallet, Google says the same rules apply as plastic cards.

    30. Google says it does not “currently” receive data about products you purchase using Google Wallet.

    31. Google Wallet does record locally on the phone the time of transaction and the credentials used to pay. There is an option to turn on a feature to record your location.

    32. Google enables you to clear your transaction history from the main menu of the app.

    What Businesses Need to Know

    33. To accept contactless payments, Google says your terminal must be ISO 14443 or 18092 standard (they will normally contain the universal contactless symbol).

    34. You’ll need First Data’s latest systems to be able to accept Google Wallet (in addition to other contactless payments).

    35. Merchants interested in participating can call First Data at 888-265-8147 (you can also request a call back here).

    36. Merchants pay card-present rates for transactions made via Google Wallet (as opposed to card-not-present rates)

    37. There are no additional charges.

    38. Google does not take a cut of transaction fees through Google Wallet.

    39. Businesses can request to become “SingleTap” merchants, where consumers can pay, redeem offers, and earn loyalty points. Merchants can integrate gift cards into Google Wallet.

    40. Current SingleTap merchants include: American Eagle, Bloomingdales, The Container Store, Duane Reade, Einstein Bros. Bagels, Foot Locker, Guess, Jamba Juice, Macy’s, Noah’s, Peet’s Coffe & Tea, RadioShack, Subway, Toys R Us, and Walgreens.

    41. Current Tap and Pay merchants include Coca Cola, CVS, Jack in the Box, Sports Authority, and Sunoco.

    42. Merchants can always send questions about Google Wallet to the company at [email protected].

    43. Google says it will remain an “open commerce ecosystem” by supporting many payment instruments with the goal of creating virtual versions of all the plastic cards that exist today, establishing APIs that issuing banks can develop for, and APIs to enable transfer of offers, loyalty programs, receipts, etc. at the point of sale, and spreading Google Wallet to more mobile devices and platforms.

    “In terms of iPhone, RIM, Microsoft — we will partner with everyone,” Google VP of Commerce Stephanie Tilenius (named in the PayPal suit) is quoted as saying.

    Questions

    There are still plenty of unanswered questions. Rachel King at ZDNet posts some good ones, such as what happens when the battery dies? ATM cash advances? International travel?

    Google is clearly very serious about the future of this app (see those aspirations mentioned earlier). I’m guessing some of these things will be addressed in time.

    Do you think Google Wallet is a good idea? Tell us what you think.

  • PayPal Sues Google Following Google Wallet Launch

    PayPal Sues Google Following Google Wallet Launch

    Google unveiled Google Wallet yesterday, and it’s already gotten the company a lawsuit. It comes from PayPal, and names two Google executives – Osama Bedier and Stephanie Tilenius, both of which used to work at eBay, and worked on extensively on PayPal.

    The suit has actually been in the works for some time, and alleges that Bedier stole confidential information from PayPal and that Tilenius violated contractual obligations. Bloomberg reports:

    PayPal also alleges that Bedier, who left the company in January, discussed a job with Google while simultaneously leading negotiations to make PayPal a payment option on Google’s Android Market. He didn’t disclose the job-related talks, a breach of his fiduciary duty, the company said.

    Tilenius, who left EBay in 2009, was under contract not to recruit employees, PayPal said. She messaged Bedier on Facebook Inc.’s social-networking Web site, telling him she had a “HUGE” opportunity for him, and sent him e-mails and text messages offering advice while he interviewed for a position, according to the complaint.

    The suit itself says Bedier “is now leading Google’s efforts to bring point of sale technologies and services to retailers on its behalf,” and that “Bedier and Google have misappropriated PayPal trade secrets by disclosing them within Google and to major retailers.”

    Google Wallet lets users store credit cards, coupons, loyalty, and gift cards on a smartphone, and uses near field communication technology, enabling tap to pay functionality. Google has partnership with Citi and MasterCard in place.

    It has been well established that competition in the mobile payments space is going to continue to get fiercer, and with Google officially in the game, things are already getting much more interesting. Wait until Apple and Facebook make their marks in physical world payments. And let’s not forget Square, which just launched Card Case, which allow consumers to use tabs for payments.

    PayPal, a leader in the payments space, needs to break out every line of defense it can as the industry in which it’s been pretty comfortable in for quite some time is becoming greatly disrupted at a rapid pace. Tricia Duryee at All Things Digital brings up an interesting point, saying that PayPal is on track to become bigger than its parent company eBay.

    Google has yet to comment on the suit.

  • Google Wallet Aims to Turn Your Phone Into a Wallet

    Google Wallet Aims to Turn Your Phone Into a Wallet

    Google announced Google Wallet today. It’s an app aimed at turning your phone into your wallet. That’s exactly how Google puts it.

    More specifically, it lets you store credit cards, coupons, loyalty, and gift cards on your phone. Google says it does so securely. The app uses near field communication (NFC) to let users tap to pay.

    “A key benefit to retailers will be the integration of coupons, or offers, into Google Wallet. We’ve been testing a variety of offers – from discounts directly within search ads to check-in offers to offers in Google Places,” explains Google Director of Commerce Partnerships, Spencer Spinnell. “Over time, consumers will be able to save each of these offers directly to their Google Wallet. That means consumers will get the benefit of carrying their offers with them at all times, bringing retailers targeted foot traffic.”

    Speaking of commerce partnerships, the company has partnered with Citi, MasterCard, First Data, and Sprint. At first, it will support both Citi MasterCard and a Google Prepaid card (which Google says you’ll be able to fund with about any payment card). “From the outset, you’ll be able to tap your phone to pay wherever MasterCard PayPass is accepted. Google Wallet will also sync your Google Offers, which you’ll be able to redeem via NFC at participating SingleTap merchants, or by showing the barcode as you check out,” the company says. “Many merchants are working to integrate their offers and loyalty programs with Google Wallet.”

    While it may start with payments, Google apparently really does want to take over your wallet as a whole. Aspirations are much more ambitious than just paying for stuff.

    “Because Google Wallet is a mobile app, it will do more than a regular wallet ever could,” Google says. “You’ll be able to store your credit cards, offers, loyalty cards and gift cards, but without the bulk. When you tap to pay, your phone will also automatically redeem offers and earn loyalty points for you. Someday, even things like boarding passes, tickets, ID and keys could be stored in Google Wallet.”

    Currently, Google Wallet is only in field test mode, but the company says it will be widely available this summer, though at first, it will only be compatible with the Nexus S 4G by Google (from Sprint), but they’ll be expanding to more phones in time. Google says it will be developing APIs to enable integration with numerous partners.