SECURITY FIRM SAYS GOOGLE WALLET NOT SECURE

Security firm ViaForensics recently said Google Wallet does not properly protect personal data, including credit card balance information, on a rooted Nexus S smartphone. Google Wallet is an NFC-based mobile payment system for Android that is accepted by a number of retailers in the United States. It is currently only officially available on the Nexus S and Nexus S 4G. “While Google Wallet does a decent job securing your full credit cards numbers, the amount of data that Google Wallet stores unencrypted on the device is significant,” ViaForensics said in a recent report. “Many consumers would not find it acceptable if people knew their credit card balance or limits.”

VERIZON BLOCKS GOOGLE WALLET ON UPCOMING GALAXY NEXUS

Despite the Galaxy Nexus’s NFC chip, Verizon is blocking the Google Wallet payment system from the handset.

Verizon is shutting it out because of — you guessed it — money. The carrier is an invested partner in Isis, a competing mobile payment system. As is so often the case when software makers, hardware makers, and wireless providers collide, the wireless providers are having the last say.

If this is enough to make you hold out for an unconfirmed AT&T or T-Mobile Galaxy Nexus, think again. Those two carriers are partnering with Verizon on the Isis system. The only US holdout is Sprint, who also happens to offer the only official support for Google Wallet with their Nexus S 4G.

RUMOR: GOOGLE TO LAUNCH GOOGLE WALLET TOMORROW

Google Wallet was first officially announced back in May along with partners Citi, First Data, Sprint, and MasterCard. Using a compatible phone and payment point (MasterCard PayPass) it allows you to pay for things using just your phone–no need to get your card or cash out. Tomorrow, it looks like Google Wallet gets an official launch.

You will be able to take advantage of Google Wallet on Sprint if you own a Nexus S 4G and shop where there’s a compatible MasterCard PayPass point. However, a limited public launch isn’t a bad thing as it will allow for a low level of use to be monitored and tested. If everything goes to plan, we can expect the availability of Wallet across more networks and NFC-enabled phones to increase fairly rapidly.

For the moment this hasn’t been confirmed by Google, but as has been rightly pointed out, it’s the NFC World Congress today and the Nexus Prime is expected next month which will also offer NFC as standard. It does sound like the perfect time to roll this out.

SPECIAL STICKER WILL ALLOW NFC-LESS ANDROID PHONES TO USE GOOGLE WALLET

Though it hasn’t been officially announced, during the Q&A session at the Google Wallet press event, Google mentioned it would be releasing a special sticker that will act as an NFC chip and will let NFC chip-less phones work with Google Wallet. This is a good move on Google’s part as the company said most Android phones in the future will support NFC technology but that’s a year away at least.

The sticker would have just one set of credit card information attached to it. So, unlike the way Google Wallet with a built-in NFC chip works, you would not be able to attach different loyalty accounts, use Offers, and so on. It would basically be just a way for you to make purchases with your smartphone.

GOOGLE LAUNCHES GOOGLE WALLET

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.

LEAK: GOOGLE TO UNVEIL MOBILE PAYMENT SERVICE ON MAY 26TH

Sources speaking with Bloomberg claim Google is finally ready to take the wraps off its mobile payment service. According to a new report, Google will host an event on Thursday, May 26th to introduce its new service, which will initially be available only to Sprint subscribers in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C. who own the company’s Nexus S 4G smartphone. The system will be NFC-based, and Bloomberg did not specify which retail partners would support Google’s initial offering.

Google has made a series of moves leading up to the imminent announcement this week, such as its recent acquisition of stealth Toronto-based start up Zetawire, which had filed a patent for “a payment system, an advertising system, and an identity management system” combined into a single product. While Google’s preliminary offering might not include unique technology such as Zetawire’s, it’s safe to say the Internet giant has a lot in store for us as it enters this emerging space.

RUMOR: iPHONE 5 DESIGN & SPECS REVEALED

See that up there? That could be your next iPhone. It's a mock-up of what is said to be the iPhone 5, according to anonymous sources quoted by Joshua Topolsky.

A continuation of the concepts laid out in our post-CES look at what's next for Apple, the design here is said to be thin, metal-backed, tapered, and sporting a 3.7-inch display with the same 960 x 640 resolution in the iPhone 4's retina display, resulting in a slight drop from that phone's vaunted 326ppi density. The home button is quite obviously enlarged, possibly adding some thumbable gestures into the mix.

Internals are said to include a "swipable" area, possibly meaning NFC, along with a Qualcomm Gobi chipset with support for CDMA and GSM, so this could be the one phone to rule all the carriers. Or, it might wind up only ever having domain over a single .PSD file. To us, well, it looks a little too thin to be packing all that and a bag of antennas as suggested and, with all the weight at the top, we can see this things flying out of hands left and right. But, we're certainly willing to be surprised.

The source did update his statement to say the bevel may be exaggerated and the back may not be metal.

SAMSUNG AND VISA PARTNER TO BRING NFC MOBILE PAYMENTS TO 2012 LONDON OLYMPICS

On Thursday Samsung and Visa announced a new partnership under which the two firms will provide an NFC mobile payment solution before, during, and after the London 2012 Olympics. The two companies will release an Olympics and Paralympics Games mobile handset in London that’s equipped with mobile NFC technology, Visa’s payment application, and a special SIM card. Here’s how it will work: When you’re ready to make a purchase, you’ll just have to open the Visa application on your phone and then hold it in front of a special contactless reader. There are over 60,000 contactless readers already in London, and Visa says it’s continuing to work with banks and retailers to increase its NFC foundation.

The NFC-enabled phone, with its Visa SIM card, will first be available to Samsung and Visa sponsored athletes, and it will also be available to consumers through mobile operators. It’s unclear what the phone model is, or how much it will cost. “This mobile payment device will be available in the UK initially, and we plan to expand the service to other countries in Europe and around the world where contactless payment facilities are available in the near future,” said Seokpil Kim, President & CEO of Samsung Electronics Europe. Visa is currently rolling out its NFC mobile payment program in Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Brazil, France, Hong Kong, Italy, Malaysia, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Slovakia, Switzerland, Turkey, the UK and the United States

GOOGLE TEAMS WITH MASTERCARD AND CITIGROUP FOR NFC PAYMENTS

The Wall Street Journal reports that Google's secretly partnered with MasterCard and Citigroup to test out a mobile payment system using NFC (Near Field Communications). According to the publication, the early demo pairs "one current model and many coming models of Android phones" with existing Citigroup-sponsored credit and debit cards, and is using the phones' NFC chips with those VeriFone readers we recently reported about.

What's more, a newly-published patent application from the crew in Mountain View may hint at the software behind such things. The application describes a service that sets up Google as a third-party broker who receives the shopping cart info of customers placing orders via a device (including those of the mobile variety), allows them to select shipping and other options, and provides the total order cost. It then collects payment, coordinates shipment, and forwards order information to the seller to complete the transaction. So companies can have Google handle all their payment-taking needs in return for getting a sneak peek at what folks are buying -- something that the WSJ's sources say might be a component of the setup Google's testing right now -- as opposed to other third-party services, like Paypal, that only obtain and exchange payment info with merchants. Looks like Alma Whitten (Google's Director of Privacy) has her work cut out assuaging the concerns such a system will inevitably create in an increasingly privacy-minded populace.

GOOGLE TESTING ANDROID PAYMENT SYSTEM

Near Field Communications, or NFC, is widely believed to be the next big thing in mobile. The chips allow the possibility of your phone talking to other mobile devices securely and through encryption at a limited range, opening the door to mobile payment: for example, the ability to pay for a subway token by waving your smartphone in front of the turnstile, or your groceries by waving your phone across the cash register.

According to internet scuttlebutt, Apple is very interested in introducing NFC technology in the next iPhone… but it appears that Google will beat them to the punch, as they are now testing the mobile payment technology by installing thousands of VeriFone NFC readers at merchants in New York and San Francisco.

According to Bloomberg, Google’s test would combine a consumer’s financial account information, gift-card balances, store loyalty cards and coupon subscriptions on a single NFC chip on an Android phone. The test is expected to begin in the next four months, although there’s no official confirmation.

This isn’t a big surprise. Google introduced NFC support in Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and the Samsung Nexus S already boasts an NFC chip, making it possible to pay at NFC-capable terminals.

This is a big deal, and for once, Google’s ahead of Apple. Your choice of smartphone could someday soon be the equivalent of your choice in credit cards, and Google has beaten Apple to the ground in this race. They’ll be testing their payment system sooner, giving them even more of a chance of amassing a dominant share of the nascent market before Apple does.

RUMOR: iPHONE 5 WILL NOT HAVE NFC

In direct contradiction to earlier rumors, insiders at some UK carriers are claiming that iPhone 5 will NOT have near field communications (NFC) capabilities. That intel is reportedly coming directly from meetings with the Cupertino brain trust, which is said to be dissatisfied with the current lack of a clear, universal NFC standard. It's generally been Apple's wont to omit or delay features it doesn't feel it can implement well, and NFC looks fated to be another one on that list.

VERIFONE TO INCLUDE NFC IN EVERY NEW PAYMENT SYSTEM

NFC payment systems are caught in a catch-22. Providers won't provide the equipment (and merchants won't pay for new systems) until it the NFC payments until enough consumers demand it, consumers won't use it until enough merchants have the systems in place. Verifone, one of the world's largest POS manufacturers and processors, is hoping to break that cycle. They have announced that all new POS systems will NFC capabilities. Verifone’s CEO, Douglas G Bergeron. “We find ourselves at the epicenter of the mobile payments revolution and the key enabler of the integration of new payment methods with the world’s existing payment infrastructure.” Mr. Bergeron does caution that the mere presence of NFC in POS systems does not make a retailer ready to accept touch-less payment, rather it takes “deep software richness at the point-of-sale to interact with the smartphone and manage a services-based model.” Hopefully, this will have a positive impact on NFC payments in the near future

BANK OF AMERICA TRIALING MOBILE WALLET PAYMENT PROGRAM

According to a BGRsource, Bank of America has started inviting select customers to trial its new Mobile Wallet payment service program based on NFC technology. This technology allows users to pay for purchases by waving their mobile phone in front of a receiver.

The program only works with BlackBerry smartphones at this point, and in order to make your existing phone NFC-capable, Bank of America is sending testers a new battery cover in addition to a microSD card. The BlackBerry Curve 8520 and 8530; BlackBerry Bold 9000, 9650 and 9700; and BlackBerry Tour 9630 are all supported devices. Payments can be made at any location where Mastercard’s PayPass is accepted, and the program will become active very shortly “this Spring.”

iPHONE 5 TO HAVE NFC, IMPLEMENTATION TO HAVE A TWIST

In a note to investors on Thursday, Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White reiterated a rumor that Apple’s next-generation iPhone will include integrated NFC capabilities. The rumor was essentially confirmed by European carrier Deutsche Telekom at Mobile World Congress earlier this week when the company stated that it will offer an NFC-enabled iPhone in the first half of this year. Interestingly, however, White also noted that his sources indicate the iPhone 5′s NFC capabilities will feature a “twist” that will differentiate the device from its competition. Mobile payments are expected to be the main focus of NFC-enabled cell phones, which are being promoted aggressively in 2011 by cell phone makers, carriers and other companies that will earn revenue from the transactions the emerging technology will facilitate. The idea of a twist in Apple’s NFC implementation could prove to be another interesting selling point for the company’s next iPhone when it launches this summer.

RUMOR: NFC COMING TO NEXT GEN iPHONE AND iPAD

Bloomberg is reporting Apple will be installing near field communication (NFC) chips in the next versions of the iPhone and iPad. This could potentially be huge and finally bring NFC payment systems, without need for a extra accessories (Square) or use of barcodes (Starbucks), to the masses.

Just by waving their NFC enabled device in front of a receiver, users would be able to pay for purchases, much like a credit card. Google is also working on NFC systems for its popular Android devices.

NFC payment systems have been around for some time, at least in theory, but has suffered from a catch-22. Processors, like Visa and Mastercard, refused to implement the backend infrastructure necessary until there was enough demand from consumers. On the opposite side, consumers won't use the systems until they are easily accessible.

If Apple, and Google to an extent, succeeds this will put millions of NFC devices in people's hands, hopefully creating a tipping point for processors to institute the backend processing.

RUMOR: GOOGLE BUILDING ITS OWN NFC PAYMENT SYSTEM

Can't say we're surprised to hear this at all, but Bloomberg BusinessWeek says Google's working on its own NFC-based mobile payments system. That makes perfect sense, given that Eric Schmidt has been enthusiastically extolling the virtues of NFC since just before Google launched the Nexus S -- which, of course, features an NFC chip. BusinessWeek says the system might launch as early as this year, although we think Google's got plenty of infrastructure work to do first -- and it's facing plenty of competition from the likes of Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T, who are launching their own Isis payment system, as well as direct device competition from RIM and Apple. Should get interesting -- we'll see if we hear anything at CES this week. [Engadget]

AT&T, T-MOBILE AND VERIZON ANNOUNCE MOBILE PAYMENT SYSTEM

The big three, AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, along with Barclay and Discover, have announced a new mobile commerce system: Isis. The system will use an app on your phone to send payments to a POS system using NFC technology. The Isis team thinks it has the "scope and scale necessary to introduce mobile commerce on a broad basis." [Engadget]