Change Mobile Wallet

Google wants to change its wallet

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Are you willing to keep your wallet at home for a whole day of life, or are you willing to keep your cell phone at home for a whole day of isolation? Many may prefer to leave their cell phones without any money. However, if the phone can also be used for payment, it will be okay if you forget your wallet.

To this end, Google launched the Google Wallet mobile payment service. A cell phone using this app can complete the purchase and payment by installing a chip and scanning the phone before the payment terminal. You can specify a credit card for mobile payment, or use a credit card to recharge Google prepaid card in advance. You also need to enter a four-digit password for the transaction. Google Wallet will be launched on Sprint Mobile's Nexus S 4G mobile phone by upgrading Android software at the end of September.

I tested Google Wallet in Washington, DC, and Palo Alto in California, and found it very convenient and pleasant to use. Although e-payment is still in its infancy, it is hard to imagine that it will catch up and become a common payment method. However, there are also many notable cases.

Google Wallet can only be used on mobile phones embedded with near-field communication (NFC) chips, which can implement secure electronic payment in a small range. In Japan, millions of mobile phone users have used the Mobile Wallet service through NFC chips, but the technology has been slowly promoted in other countries. Currently, Nexus S 4G is the only mobile phone in the United States that can use Google Wallet, but more mobile phones will be added to this row in the future.

Google Wallet can only be used in a store with a MasterCard paypass wireless payment terminal. Close to my office and home in Washington, DC, these stores include Sunoco, McDonald's, CVS, papyrus, and Home Depot) household supermarket, 7-Eleven convenience store, Best Buy electrical appliance mall, and office supplies supermarket. The Google Wallet app has a built-in 10 thousand event paypass search function, which can display nearby locations that support paypass. Currently, only 0.15 million merchants have installed the paypass terminal.
Citibank MasterCard is currently the only credit card that can be used directly through Google Wallet, but Google prepaid cards support other credit cards. Google said it will cooperate with card issuers such as visa, American Express and discover, but there is no specific time.

Several other companies are planning their own digital payment solutions. In March middle September 2011, PayPal said it would launch a cloud wallet pilot project by the end of the year. You only need to enter your mobile phone number and pin password on the Payment desk. Square, a US mobile payment company, has launched a free app, square card case, on Android and iPhone platforms. It is playing with the virtual tag concept, as long as a card is swiped once at a merchant, next time, you can pay by phone. PayPal and square do not require mobile phones with NFC chips.

In October 2011, Google Wallet will allow users to register store VIP cards and gift cards in their applications. For example, if you use Google Wallet for a store like CVs, the terminal will automatically identify your CVs extracare card ). Register the gift cards of merchants such as Macy's to the app, so you don't have to bring the gift cards out. (Currently, only American Eagle outfitter in New York can use the VIP card and gift card registration feature of Google Wallet .)

You can also use the Google search engine to find more store coupons, add them to your Google account, and synchronize them to Google Wallet.

My first Google Wallet payment experience was in CVS. I chose two boxes of paper towels and a row of AA batteries and waited in the queue at the payment desk. I was expecting to pay with a click on my cell phone; but the cashier asked me if I had a cvs vip card. I could only get the VIP card out of my wallet in a hurry to enjoy the discount price. Then I waved my cell phone on the Payment Terminal and entered the four-digit password, you can leave.

When I had lunch at McDonald's, a lady next to me was amazed at my payment method with a cell phone and said she couldn't wait to get one. At the 7-Eleven convenience store, the cashier was surprised that I had to pay for a bottle of water very quickly, in particular, the first male customer took several steel POWs and several banknotes to pay for the payment, which is in stark contrast. I use a Google prepaid card in CVs and a credit card registered on Google Wallet at McDonald's and 7-eleven. The app will display pictures of each credit card. My Citibank MasterCard is the blue tone, and even my name is on it. The card number shows the last four digits.

If the mobile phone screen is in standby status, You must wake up the mobile phone to make a transaction. This step is intended to prevent people from buying things in a confused manner when they pass through the paypass Mobile Payment Terminal. You can adjust the validity period of the four-digit password. If the password is less than one minute, then the password is more than half an hour. I set the password expiration time to 15 minutes. When I perform two tests, I do not need to enter the password to complete the payment by waving my cell phone.

Google Wallet cannot load your driver's license or other official proof of identity, so even if Google Wallet is available everywhere in the future, you have to bring your own ID card.

Catherine boehret

This article is copyrighted by Dow Jones.