GOOGLE WALLET AND CHECKOUT MERGE

In a move that has "common sense" written all over it, the folks over at Mountain View have decided to merge Google Checkout with Google Wallet. The marriage hardly comes as a surprise, considering the fact that both services serve essentially the same purpose -- namely, storing all your payment information in one neat little package. To make things even tidier, Big G has just folded Checkout into Wallet, which will soon be integrated within the Android Market, YouTube and Google+ Games, as well. As a result, the Checkout moniker will vanish from the Earth, but current users will be able to seamlessly switch over to Wallet the next time they log in to their accounts or make an online purchase.

PAYPAL TO OFFER MOBILE PAYMENT SYSTEM

Paypal has plans to implement new payment features primarily for (but not limited to) mobile. On the to-do list are things like QR / barcode scans, hyper local deals, fast checkout via NFC, etc. The company is adamant that it's not "just shoving a credit card on a phone," but rather planning to change the whole shopping experience (just like every other mobile payment company). We'll know more when PayPal releases more details in early October, and when it launches the pilot product sometime later this year.

AMAZON JUMPING INTO MOBILE PAYMENTS POOL

According to a report filed by Bloomberg, online retail giant Amazon is toying with the idea of launching a mobile payments service. Citing two anonymous sources, the publication notes that the service would “let consumers pay for goods in brick-and-mortar stores using their mobile phones.” Amazon is purportedly testing payment technologies based on NFC (Near Field Communications) in an effort to expand its Payments service. This is the company’s latest venture into the mobile world. Amazon officially opened its Appstore for Android on March 22nd and its Cloud Drive music storage/streaming service on March 29th. The company has not made any public statements about future plans involving mobile payments or NFC.

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