Google Wallet – The Future of Shopping
How would you react if I tell you that in the near future wallets won’t be made of fabrics and textiles but from plastic, metal and silicium, they won’t be sewn, they will be engineered? Said with other words the small leather thing that stores all the credit, debit cards, receipts and coupons will be pushed into the history by your smartphone. Looks like that the man’s pocket is too small for the two of them and one has to leave.
NFC and Mobile Payments
Google Wallet is what I am talking about. It is a service that works through NFC which means that if your phone is not NFC-enabled (which is possible, because NFC is comparatively new technology) you won’t be able to try it. Of course the prospects are very bright because nowadays every new smarphone or tablet that come out on the mobile stage (including the expected iPhone 5) are equipped with Near Field Communication chip. In the recent Google I/O 2012 Hugo Barra said that nearly 400k NFC-enabled devices are being shipped every week worldwide. A list of all the NFC-enabled devices that are currently on the market can be found Here.
Tap and Pay – Simple and Secured!
Imagine that you enter the coffee shop for your morning dose of caffeine, take a taxi to your work or shop in the neighborhood store. When the check-out moment comes no plastic credit or debit card are needed any more (or won’t be needed in the next few years). Simply put out your smartphone, tap the NFC-powered terminal/point-of-sell, pay virtually and receive a receipt on the screen. The alleviation and security of the user is only the one side of the coin. Merchants are also quite optimistic about the adoption of Google Wallet in their businesses. Google has more than 25 partners across the US among which there are some big fishes like Macy’s, Subway, Walgreens, American eagle Outfitters and The Container Store.
Mobile payments through NFC technology are highly secure.
What is new in Google Wallet?
Ok but Google Wallet was released more than a year ago. Is there anything new in the mobile payments? Surely! To begin with the fact the range of credit and debit cards got wider – now Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover are supported. There were some speculations before that it is dangerous to keep your cards’ details in the phone because they can be easily reached or eavesdroped by hackers. Not to mention the case when the device is lost and someone with “good” intentions puts his hands on it. No worries any more. The least you can do now is to lock your Google Wallet with pin code. Furthermore the credit or debit numbers and details are no longer stored on the smartphone – they are uploaded up in the highly secured cloud servers of Google and can be accessed any time when you are online. If the device happens to be stolen or lost you can easily disable it remotely from your account. Apart from the in-shop “tap, pay and save” you can use your virtual wallet for online transactions too. Getting nervous when having to fill all the numerous fields with card numbers, security IDs and other information? Well not any more. Many online retailers have already adopted Google Wallet in their systems. Input the credit/debit details once when downloading Google Wallet from GooglePlay Market and shop easy and conveniently all around the web. Everything becomes only one click away! “Savings.Speed.Security” – that is how Google are promoting their improved service in the freshly released video:
User’s Alleviations is №1 in the List!
Last but still that interesting and important is the fact that you can bind and synchronize another Google services with your wallet – like Google Offers and the Calendar for example. No more forgotten coupons, no more missed discount deadlines – the information is constantly updated and you – the user – are constantly notified about current or approaching promotions and actions.
Practically this is the future of shopping – virtual wallets and mobile payments that are fast, convenient, literally on the tips of your fingers and at the same time – highly secured and unbreachable. That’s what Google Wallet is all about – unique customer experience!