Google hopes to launch revamped Wallet service in May

BY Killian Bell

Published 20 Feb 2015

google_wallet

Google’s doing all it can to deliver a convincing Apple Pay competitor, which it hopes to launch this May at Google I/O, The Wall Street Journal reports. But the company is currently having a difficult time convincing partners to support its new venture.

“The Internet-search giant is trying to marshal an unruly coalition of device makers, wireless carriers, banks and payment networks to shape a new version of its Google Wallet payment service, in some cases by offering them more revenue,” writes The Journal’s Alistair Barr.

It is thought that Google is worried Apple Pay could persuade consumers to buy an iPhone over an Android device. While it may be difficult to convince partners to provide their support, then, the company must do all it can to make its new Wallet service a success.

Its biggest hurdle is that it doesn’t have the same level of control over Android as Apple does over iOS. Manufacturing partners and even carriers can modify its software and add their own apps and services, and some, such as Samsung, have or are working on mobile payment services of their own.

Samsung is using LoopPay technology to build a new Apple Pay competitor, which is expected to get its grand unveiling next month alongside the Galaxy S6. The company has even announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire LoopPay.

According to a person familiar with that deal, Samsung and other smartphone makers do not see the benefit in supporting Google Wallet, which would only make revenue for Google.

Apple’s tight control over its own hardware and software means that it can pre-install the Apple Pay service on every iPhone it sells. CEO Tim Cook believes that is the company’s biggest advantage. “Imagine trying to do this with several different companies,” he told an investment conference. “You’d be pulling your hair out.”

Apple Pay is certainly succeeding where other mobile payment alternatives have failed. According to Cook, it already accounts for $2 of every $3 spent in the U.S. using contact-less payment services, and it is predicted that 40 percent of large retailers will be supporting it by the end of 2015.

Google has already confirmed its plans to revamp Wallet. Omid Kordestani, Google’s chief business officer, told investors last month that the company was working on a new payment system that goes “beyond just tap and pay.”

A recent report from The Information claimed Google was developing a new service named Plaso, which is already being tested in a select few retail stores, sources say. The system reportedly lets shoppers pay for goods simply by saying their name or initials at the cash register.

We’ll have to wait and see whether Google has its new Wallet service ready in time for Google I/O in late May, but it will have to be pretty special to knock Apple Pay off its perch right now.

[via The Wall Street Journal]