Technology And gadgets: Google Wallet update purportedly leaks plans for a real-world card, transfers and transit passes

Thursday 1 November 2012

Google Wallet update purportedly leaks plans for a real-world card, transfers and transit passes

Google Wallet hasn't had much uptake in the real world. When most of its use has revolved around one carrier, few payment points and even fewer phones, most of us have had to sit on the sidelines. If an Android Police source really did come across a leaked future build of Google Wallet as he claims, though, we may know how Google surmounts that problem: going old school with a real-world card. Screenshots in the app supposedly show a mail-in option for plastic that could completely replace credit and debit cards without turning to NFC. Any charges after a typical swipe of the magnetic strip would simply go to whatever payment source is set as Wallet's default, letting minimalists slim down their actual wallets while sharing in the same discounts as their phone-wielding counterparts. Digital-only purists would still get something out of the deal, as the update could also bring person-to-person money transfers and support for mass transit cards. How soon the as yet unconfirmed app would appear is still a mystery, but it dovetails with Google teasing a Wallet revamp that's rumored to take mobile use beyond its Android-only roots; we just didn't anticipate that the company might bypass our phones altogether.

Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Google