Whatever gets the customer to spend more money easily is the way to go. Virtual wallets are not new and have been used in Asia and Europe for quite some time. It’s amazing that it took so long for it to finally come to North America. What I like about the e-wallet is the marketing that goes along with it. Now merchants have access to a ton of information about their customer and can tailor their offerings to better suit the individual customer.

I don’t know for certain that Google’s Wallet will be the one, however, I am absolutely, positively convinced that mobile payment technology will become extremely important over these next five years.

Google may not be the ultimate innovator of this version of the virtual wallet. But you can “bet the farm” that this will become huge and it will happen quickly.

I happen to be one of the few human beings who has actually made a Google Wallet payment (at 5:21 PM on September 26 at a CVS in Boston, to be exact). The process was simple enough, but the true power and potential of this technology is not in the payment per se, but rather in the opportunity for relevant marketing around the transaction. We are at the leading edge of the single biggest transformation in the shape of a wallet since the introduction of credit cards in the ’60s and ’70s and the introduction of loyalty cards in the ’80s and ’90s. If anything, this transition will be even more significant because it is about making the payment process itself interactive. Once the smartphone is the payment vehicle, marketers will be able to interact with shoppers along the full purchase path. Location-, time-, and preference-based marketing and offers can pull shoppers into retail locations they might not otherwise have visited. Once the shopper is shopping, behaviorally-targeted offers for items that particular retailer carries can… Read more »

A nice step forward. As Dorothy pointed out, retailers have an incentive to see it work too…so the question becomes, “How do we overcome security concerns from a consumer perception standpoint?” I am sure that some big brains have been working out the security mechanisms per se, but the shopper still needs assurance. Will the PIN make the shopper feel secure enough to plunge in? For younger shoppers, there is little doubt.

This will certainly help move consumers into an e-wallet experience. However, it will take more phones, including the iPhone, to embrace this technology before it will really take off. This needs to be an “everywhere” app, before it will become used by everyone. Grocery stores, key retailers like Walmart, etc. all have to embrace this in addition to other phone manufacturers…only time will tell…

Google Wallet as the “turning point” in mobile payment usage would be a bit of an overstatement. But it’s certainly a step in the right direction. And consumers like Google and their products, so I’d bet strong that usage will increase quickly.

Mobile payment, in general, is about convenience, which is one of the leading ways to attract consumers. Some retailers/products will be more suited to mobile payment, particularly if couponing becomes ‘part of the deal’ (pun intended).

As with any technology, there will be kinks, such as security issues, level of convenience, response sentiment, etc. But this doesn’t mean you don’t try. Google has certainly been an innovator in launching new digital technologies into the marketplace, and other brands should follow suit. It just has to be carefully implemented.

Security is always the concern with mobile payments, but whether it can be made secure is not so much the question as is how much hassle is introduced to the transaction process. Identity security has always revolved around three things: something the person knows (e.g. password), something they own (e.g. the phone or card), or a characteristic of the person (e.g. biometrics). The Google Wallet requires the holder to key in a password. But the phone can’t (yet) carry my dry cleaning ticket. Although it doesn’t exactly look like Jason Alexander’s, my wallet carries a lot more than cash or credit cards. The fundamental question is whether people will use the phone for payment if they still have to carry the wallet for everything else. The interesting thought is that the back end might encourage more people to use the Google Wallet than the front end. If linking the wallet to all my existing credit cards enables me to pay them with one transaction (possibly through the phone) it would make the back end much… Read more »

It’s just a matter of time until we no longer need cash. I rarely spend cash today and as this and other payment apps proliferate into the global marketplace, adoption will skyrocket.

Google is playing out an interesting preemptive power strategy here. By vigorously promoting its Wallet technology on the market before it is fully baked, it tries to block alternative smaller players from entering the market with solutions that may be ultimately more workable. Seldom discussed in the media coverage is the payment mechanism, which requires network connectivity (presently Sprint) at the POS. If you can’t connect, you’d better have your payment card in your pocket to complete the purchase. From descriptions I’ve seen, Google’s SingleTap process seems to require a tap-PIN-tap sequence — tap to activate the app, enter a security PIN, then tap again to complete the payment. So, security assurances aside, true convenience is still many months — even years — away. While I’m skeptical about Google’s power-play go-to-market approach, I do believe NFC technology will ultimately prevail in the mobile payments arena. NFC-equipped readers cost just tens of dollars a unit. They are replaced at POS every couple of years anyway due to wear and tear. I’ve personally observed them in dozens… Read more »

The turning point will be when teenagers can use low-end phones to buy slurpees at 7-Eleven. Requiring a high-end phone that requires near field communication that only works on a high-end (4G no less) network at select locations is hardly “turning point” material. Google is clearly just piloting the concept and interested in “failing small”. Interesting technology, years away from “main street” and the high school down the road.

Payment is the least interesting part of the solution. Coupons and loyalty are what will make NFC attractive to consumers. I can’t tell whether Google, PayPal, Isis, or the individual efforts from Mastercard, Visa, and Amex will prevail. Yes, Google is getting a lot of press, but that doesn’t guarantee success. When/if the iPhone 5 has NFC, things will really change.

I see the future of retail — and definitely this ease of purchase is in it. Challenges are security, and technology that is never down.

The opportunities are many but there are challenges. The first and perhaps most important challenge is consumer inertia. The truth is, my credit card works. My debit card works. There’s very little burning platform for change if mobile payment is ONLY about payment. This means that the mobile wallet has to reach beyond the financial transaction and encompass promotion, loyalty, shopping and budgeting tools and more. It’s these added benefits beyond payment that will break the inertia against change.

In the end however, this can’t be about what brand of mobile device you choose to use. The payment platform will have to be OS agnostic in order for this to get wide ranging adoption. The question becomes one of self-interest. Will Google’s own selfish desire to bring everyone over to Android get in the way of the success of the Wallet?

As I have said for some time, smart phones will play the same role in regular shopping as your GPS does in your regular driving — that is, not much. This is until there is a regular reason to use the phone WHILE YOU ARE SHOPPING! And pay as you select, to eliminate paying at checkout, is the way for this to happen.

So this WILL work, whether now or at some time in the not distant future.

I just got an Android-powered, flame-throwing, 4G, Samsung Galaxy S II from AT&T and got pretty excited at the beginning of this story. Then the Grinch – aka Jamie Tenser – turned the garden hose on me. His is the most realistic and cold-light-of-day assessment, I believe, and brought me back to reality.

Then I was reminded by my decades of experience with supermarket retailers that a major impediment to electronic wallets for them will be the cost of store-level systems and connectivity. Supermarket owners don’t want to pay for ANYTHING, period. And, they’re extremely protective of their customers’ privacy. Someone will have to foot the bill for infrastructure should Google and others venture into that payment arena, where more transactions are conducted daily than in any other industry (a real plum for any service-cost-per-transaction model). And skeptical grocers – often even more mistrustful than their customers about privacy – will have to be convinced of any system’s safety.

The “digital wallet” technology is the future. I don’t know if Google’s Wallet is the future, but this technology certainly is. From a marketing perspective, it’s amazing. Being able to gather and track all that information and then use that information to advertise to people right on their phone based on what they just purchased. There’s just so much potential. It really is an incredible time. But, as of now, there are obviously a few hurdles I see that need to be overcome. I think the two biggest ones are availability and security. If Google is successful, someone will develop an similar App for the iPhone. If Google is smart, they will develop an App for the iPhone. For this to be truly successful, everyone with a smart phone should be able to use it. If Google doesn’t create an app for the iPhone, they’re opening themselves to competition. Competition who may decide to develop an app for both the Android and iPhone. By getting in early, they have the opportunity to corner the market.… Read more »

Google could very well be the wave that breaks the dam on mobile payment, and just as important, drives a leap-frog in mobile payment technology going straight to over-the-air payment instead of the expensive, complex, and costly NFC solutions. Question is, how will this affect the over-the-air strategies already underway at most major wireless carriers and who will be the dominant player in the huge potential market of over-the-air payment? Given this move, smart money may be betting on Google.

This could be a brilliant idea if the security aspect is really confirmed. But what about helping a customer spend, only within their means? Are there no limits and with the fun of using the app, will shoppers go overboard?

It is not certain whether Google Wallet will be the defacto NFC enabled mobile payment service in the market. However, it is certainly pushing the industry to pay attention and move things forward. This means the entire eco-system is waking up and working on their approaches to move NFC based mobile payment or mobile marketing services.

Consumer concerns of security, interoperable technology and familiarity are all manageable. The biggest challenges in developed markets are lack of strong business case without the presence of a dominant player to push the agenda and limited support from the regulatory environment to make this leap. Countries where NFC or other mobile based payments has taken off has had one of the above three catalysts present.