There are innovations that are bound to revolutionize people's daily lives and Google Wallet could be one of them. The basic idea is simple: use a mobile phone instead of a credit card. Google unveiled the new system yesterday, which will be operated in partnership with Mastercard and Citi bank.
For now, the new application can only be used in the United States and only with a particular smartphone (Samsung Nexus S4G), but it could soon be extended to other countries and with other models, especially if it is successful.
If the shop where you are shopping has joined the programme, all you have to do is bring your mobile phone close to a particular sensor which will send a signal to the phone which, after carrying out some security checks, will authorize the payment. The system will take advantage of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, a wireless system that allows data to be transmitted between two devices a few centimeters apart. To encourage the use of this system, the Mountain View company is thinking of a series of promotions and offers for customers who will pay with Google Wallet. Who knows, maybe in a few years using the cell phone to pay will be normal. The conditions are all there, especially in a country like the United States where most payments are made electronically.
However, the launch of the new system does not seem to make everyone happy. PayPal, one of the major companies for managing online payments, has launched a lawsuit against Google for the alleged theft of some industrial secrets for the creation of the new payment system by the search engine. The information would have been passed on by Osama Bedier, a former PayPal manager who now works for Google in the unit that deals with the development of new online payment solutions.
