Google Wallet Unveiled

As promised here we are with the update to today’s earlier post about the speculation of Google’s new NFC payment services, Google Wallet. Turns out speculation about the name was right on the money and they will begin field testing this new service in shops around New York, Portland and San Francisco this summer with other cities following shortly after. As Sprint is their partner in their launch of Google Wallet, the Nexus S which is carried by Sprint will be one of the new NFC capable devices in the US to enjoy this new service. Want more information? Check it out after the break.

What makes Google Wallet unique and different from previous mobile wallet systems is that it allows the inclusion of more than one credit card and includes loyalty cards as well, meaning one tap will register not only your credit card but also your loyalty card as well.

As it stands Google Wallet currently supports Mastercard credit cards from Citi and users can pay for goods at 120,000 U.S. shops including Macy’s, Walgreens, Subway, Noah’s Bagels, American Eagle, Bloomingdale’s, Peet’s Coffee, Toys ‘R’ Us and others. Google will also be offering prepaid Google Mastercards which you can recharge with funds from another card or bank account and when you sign up for a Google Prepaid Card you will be credited with $10 for free into your prepaid account. There will also be Google Offers which will tie in with Google Wallet that sends you an “offer of the day” that you can take advantage of by paying with your Google Wallet.

In terms of security all credit card information will be encrypted on the NFC chip which is separate from the Android’s device memory and only accessible by authorized programs. Users can also set a PIN request to unlock their phones or when they want to open their Google Wallet.

Sounds like Google Wallet is starting to shape up rather nicely and with so many shops and partners ready we can only wonder how the other carriers and ISIS will be able to compete or what they can come up with.