Polyamorous Google Wallet adds Visa to its arsenal
To the delight of shopaholics everywhere, Visa has announced that it's jumped on the Google Wallet bandwagon -- giving card users access to the snazzy, new NFC payment system. Much like MasterCard's announcement last week, the licensing agreement will allow Visa users to link their credit, debit and prepaid cards to Google's offering for fast mobile payments in places that accept the service. The credit card company has dabbled in mobile payments before through payWave, but with plans to integrate into GW, we'll surely be seeing more of it in the near future. As momentum over the NFC-powered mobile phones grows, it will be interesting to see if the Real Housewives can part with their phones long enough for their assistants to pay for those Manolos. Check out the full PR after the break.
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Visa and Google Sign Licensing Deal to Boost Mobile Payment Adoption
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Visa Inc., Visa Europe and Google today announced that Google has received a worldwide license to Visa payWave, an innovative NFC-based payment technology. Visa payWave enables consumers to make fast and secure payments at retail locations by waving their mobile phone in front of a payment terminal and is currently accepted at hundreds of thousands of retail locations worldwide.
"This agreement extends Google Wallet to Visa account holders worldwide"
The agreement sets the stage for Visa-issuing banks worldwide to enable Visa account holders to add their credit, debit and prepaid accounts to Google Wallet – a mobile application that turns a smart phone into a digital wallet. This is the latest effort by Visa and Google to simplify the consumer shopping experience by enabling them to make mobile payments using their mobile phones.
"Mobile technology is transforming how people pay for goods and services," said Jim McCarthy, global head of product, Visa Inc. "This agreement builds on Visa's strategy of enabling consumers to make mobile payments with whatever device they choose using the trusted accounts they already have."
"This agreement extends Google Wallet to Visa account holders worldwide," said Stephanie Tilenius, vice president of Commerce and Payments at Google. "This is a crucial step towards realizing our shared vision for the future of mobile commerce – one that creates a rich shopping experience for consumers and merchants alike."
Today's news furthers Visa's progress in making its products available as a payment option in any digital wallet. This includes Visa's own digital wallet announced earlier this year which is designed to provide consumers with "click-to-buy" payment functionality and access to their Visa and non-Visa accounts using a personal computer or smart phone, to make purchases online and at retail locations.
Google Wallet is designed to enable an open commerce ecosystem enabling consumers to carry payment cards, offers, loyalty and gift cards -- and eventually much more. Google is also working with top retail brands to create a new mobile shopping experience.
