Report: Google Gearing Up Mobile Payment Roll-Out for Smartphones
May 25, 2011 12:03 PM EDT by Brian Oliver Bennett, LAPTOP Senior Writer 
Perhaps feeling the heat from competitors such as Square and Intuit, Google reportedly plans to pull the tarp off a new mobile payment system in an event set for Thursday, May26th. Google’s offering will possibly leverage the company’s popular Android OS, letting users purchase items with their phones.
Sources close to Bloomberg have said that Google’s portable payment product will be first available in five urban areas: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and the Washington D.C. region.
A big part of Google’s payment plans is the use of NFC (Near Field Communication) technology, which is currently available on the Samsung Nexus S on T-Mobile and the Samsung Nexus S 4G for Sprint. NFC has big potential, since it will allow quick data exchanges with a simple tap, perfect for making digital payments.
What’s also great about NFC is that it’s controlled by local software, making it more secure than dumb plastic credit cards. Many are eagerly eying NFC including Visa and RIM (with support planned in its upcoming BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930 handsets). No wonder Google wants a piece of the action.
via Bloomberg
image credit: GottaBeMobile
