Putting to bed months of rumors, Google on Thursday announced an "open" NFC-based mobile payments ecosystem that lets users pay for items by tapping their phone against a payment reader.
"Your phone will be your wallet. Just tap, pay, and save," said Stephanie Tilenius, Google's VP of Commerce, announcing the platform at the Google Partner event in New York.
'Google Wallet' is a free Android app that securely stores multiple credit cards, or a Google prepaid card linked to your credit card (one that Google provides). When opened on an NFC-enabled smartphone, you can tap your phone against a supported payment reader and the item you want to purchase is instantly charged to your credit card.
Field tests are already in place in New York and San Francisco, but when it launches commercially this summer Google Wallet will work on Sprint's Nexus S 4G, MasterCard credit cards issued by Citi, and at retailers equipped with Mastercard's PayPass terminals. The transactions will be processed by First Data, an Atlanta-based company.
Retailers who've signed up include Walgreens, Subway, Toys "R" Us, American Eagle Outfitters, and Macy's.
At the event Osama Bedier, a former PayPal exec and currently Google's VP of Payments, demonstrated the end-to-end consumer experience with a skit about buying denim shorts for his daughter.
First, Bedier opened the Google Wallet app on his Nexus S and agreed to the Terms and Conditions. He then attached his Google Wallet to a Google account, entered a PIN number to open the wallet, and filled out a form to link his Citi credit card account to the app.
Then Bedier stepped into American Eagle Outfitters store (use your imagination), where Beth McCormick, senior director of customer systems at AEO, joined the stage and handed him a pair of American Eagle's MIDI shorts. Bedier brought the shorts to a PayPass terminal, tapped his smartphone against it, signed his name, and "left" the store.
Bedier called this "Single Tap" but in reality, it's more of a tap-sign transaction.
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