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.

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

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.

GOOGLE ANNOUNCES ONLINE PAYMENT SYSTEM - ONE PASS

Not to be outdone by Apple's announcement yesterday of their subscription payment system, Google has unveiled one of their own. The PR-speak promises "an open and flexible platform" for "publishers, journalism and access to quality content." In a nutshell it is a user authentication, payment processing, and administration system for folks who want to sell content on the web. Google only takes ten percent off the top (compared to Apple's thirty percent), and you even get access to consumer data -- something Apple is unwilling to do. Check out the video below. [Engadget]

APPLE GOES AFTER IN APP PAYMENT VIOLATORS

In the wake of Apple's rejection of the Sony Reader app, Apple is now starting to go after those apps currently in the App Store that violate their terms. Apple has a policy that states all payments must go through Apple's payment system and in app payments are not allowed.

An Apple spokesperson stated that Apple is “now requiring that if an app offers customers the ability to purchase books outside of the app, that the same option is also available to customers from within the app with in-app purchase.” The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday reports that developers have begun to receive notices that apps in violation of this policy will be rejected starting March 31st. This could mean existing apps like Amazon’s Kindle eBook reader, which sends users to a mobile website in order to make purchases, could run into problems unless they are updated to offer content through iTunes. According to the Journal, the only exception to the rule that will be made is for publishers wishing to give print subscribers free access to an iPad edition.

STARBUCKS ACCEPTING MOBILE PAYMENTS

Starting today, you’ll be able to swipe your iPhone, iPod touch, or BlackBerry at almost all Starbucks locations to pay for your coffee (or delicious reduced-fat Cinnamon cake). The program had been piloted in California and many New York stores and allows you to use the Starbucks Mobile Card iPhone app to add your Starbucks Cards, track rewards, and also reload your cards from your phone. How easy is it to use to pay that Trenta Caramel Frappuccino? Just tap “touch to pay” in the app, hold it up to the scanner at the register and you’re off and running.

ROVIO (ANGRY BIRDS DEVELOPER) CREATING OWN BILLING SYSTEM

Rovio, the makers of Angry Birds, is developing its own in-game, carrier billing payment system. Bad Piggy Bank will launch next year on Elisa, a Finnish carrier. The new system will allow users to upgrade to an ad-free version of Angry Birds as well as make in-game purchases, like the Mighty Eagle.

Rovio CEO Peter Vesterbacka at a press conference said they would offer the system to other developers and take a share of the revenue. Vesterbacka went on to say he hopes it will provide consumers, especially in areas with less credit card penetration, an option for buying in-app content without having to register. Rovio is creating this in house payment system out of frustration with Android's payment system, which prompted Rovio to offer Angry Birds with ads for free on Android.

With Rovio’s clout, it might be able to get another option on the table for consumers and developers. It would, however, put them in competition with application markets like Apple’s App Store, which takes a cut of in-app purchases, as well third-party payment services like PayPal, Boku and Zong, which are also trying to enable in-app payments. [GigaOM]

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]

PAYPAL UPDATES iPHONE APP

Tucked away in an annoucement for a slew of other things like a new micropayments product and an apps platform for business, Paypal had an interesting nugget. A new version of its popular iPhone app that allows users to find businesses near their immediate location that accept PayPal as a form of payment. Launching in San Francisco initially, the feature encourages merchants to attract nearby customers to their stores by posting deals and promotions to the app as an incentive for customers to visit their businesses.

Customers can search by category and location, and find and select stores, services, or special offers. Users can pick up the goods or services in person, but pay the merchant using their PayPal app. Users can also use tags from Bling Nation, a startup that has partnered with PayPal to use the startup’s mobile payment chips to deduct funds from a PayPal account.

One of the big selling points around using PayPal for merchants is the ability to offer deals as an incentive to drive buyers to a store or restaurant. Whether it be Groupon-like daily deals or just ordinary coupons, there’s no doubt that deals do help drive online to offline sales. [TechCrunch]