While Apple Pay has grabbed all the attention in the mobile payment field, with the Google Wallet service launched back in 2011 having failed to make the same kind of splash, it appears that Google may be benefiting from the publicity generated by Apple. Sources cited by arsTechnica report that Google Wallet service has seen the number of users almost double, with a 50% increase in weekly transactions during the past couple of months …Â
Google Wallet works in a similar fashion to Apple Pay at the till, providing a virtual payment card on a smartphone, though without fingerprint authorization for transactions. Google Wallet does, however, offer additional functionality through support for gift cards and person-to-person payments. As with Apple Pay, it is currently only available to U.S. cardholders.
Google is faring rather better than another rival mobile payment service, CurrentC. An exclusivity clause in the MCX consortium contract led to first CVS and then Rite Aid switching off support for NFC payments, preventing the use of Apple Pay. MCX responded to the controversy with some rather unconvincing assurances (not helped by an admission that it had already been hacked) followed by some rapid back-tracking in the face of growing consumer resentment and at least one rebel merchant – yesterday stating that the exclusivity clause will expire ‘within months.’
If you want to compare Google Wallet to Apple Pay for yourself, an iOS app is available as a free download from iTunes.
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That’s odd. When Apple Pay launched, Fandroids all over the web were gleefully boasting about the fact that “yeah, we’ve had that since 2012, biatch!”. But all of a sudden a full 50% more Google Pocketers are using this feature – just because Apple now has a similar payment option? That sounds very odd, to say the least.
There’s nothing odd about it. NFC-based payments have indeed be possible with Google Wallet for while now. Apple Pay is popularizing it in the U.S. which in effect brings increased awareness to the technology in general.
Personally, this was expected.
I think you took his post too literal. It was a joke about how Google fandroids were stating that ApplePay wasnt new or important and down playing Apple influence on the NFC market.
Except that’s not true, Jason. I read things from Android users all over how Applepay going mainstream would also benefit Google Wallet.
Kind of like how there were tablets before the iPad but the market only took off once the iPad came out? One more proof how there is only one major trendsetter in this industry: Apple
Apple Playing Catch up? LOL based on a fandroid’s assessment of large screen. Never understood “large”, an adjective is consider a technology or innovation which usually are nouns…
Let’s me see. Apple Pay is a catchup? Let’s look at the true tech behind it. NFC is a wireless communication. tokenization is authentication method, Printer Print (Touch ID) is secure physical security (oh android devices don’t have that)…all of these have been available before Google Wallet and Apple Pay. Google implemented it in different way: Cloud based authentication, always-ON NFC and 4 PIN security (which is bad method). Apple Pay = device based authentication with tokenization, NFC ON when the app is accessed and Touch ID for finger print.
Up to now, none of android device can come up with a usable biometrics for security measure…that’ pathetic. Don’t even say Apple playing catch-up anymore because I’ll mention 64-bit system which was used by Apple a year ago.
Apple is always leading, this is no exception. Google Wallet was first, but it was, like most things Google, poorly implemented and without any real support. Like tablets before the iPad, it doesn’t matter how long it existed if no one cares or uses it because it sucks.
Google Wallet’s implementation was, and still is, pretty solid. Where Google dropped the ball was in marketing the service and by not working in conjunction with retailers, banks, and credit card issuers, like Apple has.
Google Wallet is a great service that I use as much as I can on my Nexus 5, and I’m really glad that Apple Pay will usher in an expansion of places where I can make NFC payments.
Let me remind you of the whole maps debacle when Apple thought it’d be wise to drop Google Maps and develop their own. Sure it works now, but it took a few months to keep directions from leading you into the middle of a body of water.
When you say something implemented was solid, that technology must have advantage over the traditional way of doing things. What advantage Google wallet have over regular Credit cards? It’s slower than to use the real card. It collects user’s financial information and put it on their cloud. It requires cell signal for the feature to work. Its always-on NFC drains the battery that’s why users turns it off. The only good thing is: it uses NFC for transactions.
That’s the difference between Apple and other tech companies – Most tech companies just throw stuff onto the market “as is”, whereas, Apple tends to look at the “big picture” when it comes to introducing new features and/or forms factors. The result is that these things don’t feel bolted on or forced, they feel more like a natural extension making it easier for their user base to adopt and actually use. Apple’s brilliance with ApplePay was making use of features that their users were already familiar with, Passbook and Touch ID. The only part that’s “new” about ApplePay is NFC.
Lack? if you can point out a single android device with biometrics that can replace 4 PIN for Google Wallet, then you have a listener. Otherwise, I still call it BS, Herb.
Is Herb deleting his posts now? lol
Apple.s smartest play was knowing that financial institutions and retailers will be responsible for fraud in 11 months if they don’t have EMV terminals and the Obama requiring all government issued credit cards to be chip and pin starting in January and also lending processing companies money to upgrade the terminals.
NFC terminals will be available in many more locations and retailers and financial companies will looking at supporting both the secureness of EMV cards and Apple Pay and whatever upgrades Google will do for Wallet.
Cue the analysts claiming how Google Wallet will have the most growth because there are more Android smartphones with NFC in the hands of consumers. After all, isn’t everything on Wall Street centered around market share. Google can boast all about how they had Google Wallet first but if that’s the case, Google should have been putting more effort into marketing or something to get it recognized and used in larger numbers. Now Google and Google Wallet can simply ride on Apple Pay’s coattails when they could have pushed hard for NFC payments since 2011.
The reason Google Wallet didn’t take off because fandroid didn’t see the advantage of it over regular credit cards: pull out the phone, load the Google Wallet app, select the category (payment or coupone…), choose card to pay, enter 4-PIN and wait for authentication to Google Cloud until you hear the beep sound. Yup, that already slow down the process.
Apple Pay is D.O.A.
Yup…oh…1 million activation in 72 hours…more than Google wallet in 3 years…I hope you mean /S