
Google Wallet is here and it looks awesome | Front Side Bus - matteodallombra
http://www.frontsidebus.net/2011/09/19/google-wallet-is-here-and-it-looks-awesome/
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albahk
Its a great step for NFC adoption in the US but permit me to brag a little by
showing you the NFC-payment system in Hong Kong (Octopus Card) which you can
use in:

\- all public transport (subway, bus, tram, ferry, etc)

\- shops (7-11, drugstore etc)

\- as access card to buildings, offices, residence

... and on a run-down boat which charges you HK$1.80 per ride (US$0.23). This
is the ultimate Mom and Pop shop.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_EtTiLP_EE>

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alexhaefner
Well according to this:

<http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-09-chance-credit-card.html>

Credit card technology in the US has been stagnant for a while. It looks like
Google is trying to solve a worthwhile problem. But I imagine that many users
might feel hesitancy, and early adopters will find a lot of places where there
Google wallet just doesn't work.

Digital wallets will be a nice change of pace from having to carry different
physical cards with information on them that can be easily stolen.

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signalsignal
Do anyone* think that the required NFC-enabled credit card terminals will be
sold cheaply enough for all the small Mom and Pop businesses in the US to
adopt this over the more familiar technology, non-NFC-enabled credit card
terminals?

I imagine that this will go the way of Google Health eventually.

*Outside of Google

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culturestate
Mom-and-pop, maybe not, but there are already a ton of NFC-enabled machines
out there. Around here (Florida) I can even use the chip in my AmEx to buy a
soda.

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Estragon
I basically treat my phone the way I would a windows machine. I download lots
of apps without too much concern for their integrity, because I really have no
way to track what's going on on it (is there tripwire for android?.) No way am
I going to put financial information on it.

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ineedtosleep
And that's why I'm going to use the prepaid Google card option and keep only
<$10 or $20 in it at all times. I doubt I would use this for huge
transactions, but the main thing: I see lots of stores that have the
NFC/Paypass machines, but rarely do they have them on/functional. I received
my Visa Paypass card more than a year ago and have yet to use the Paypass
functionality.

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moab9
If they can ultimately bypass the credit card services/fees then I can see the
significance of this, otherwise isn't it just adding another step to the
credit card purchasing process?

What am I missing?

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thinkcomp
You're not missing anything.

While services like ours (FaceCash, <https://www.facecash.com>) bypass the
credit card interchange and lower fees as a result, Google is just emulating
what everyone already has and adding extra cost to the equation for merchants.

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faitswulff
I'm sorry because this is unrelated, but speaking as an interested and even
encouraging consumer, FaceCash has some of the most horrendous branding I have
ever seen.

The logo looks childish at best, nightmarish at worst, and the motto is
vaguely threatening. Didn't the Joker make someone sign with his face in The
Dark Knight? As I recall, it was fatal. The narrator of the videos needs a
drink of water - the smacking sounds are incredibly distracting - and the
reason the name sounds so terrible is because it's a near-homophone for "Face
Gash."

I really want to love this. I do. It sounds really useful. But I can't even
look at it without flinching.

But, as my English teacher was fond of saying during critiques, feel free to
tell me to go to hell. Perhaps I am not in your target market.

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thinkcomp
You can't please everyone. A lot of people like the logo. The narrator has
also received a lot of compliments.

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drivebyacct2
Why do I still want to have POS systems and have to have a "credit card". So
instead of the piece of plastic, I have to carry my phone and a piece of
plastic?

I'd much prefer to see a comprehensive shift away from the credit card
companies and PoS systems entirely.

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thinkcomp
I agree!

