Mountain View, California — After countless rumors, reporters in New York are dusting off their outdoor clothes for a Google “partner event” which will take the wraps off a mobile payment system on Thursday that will let shoppers wave their smartphones in front of a small reader at the checkout counter to pay instead of pulling out a credit card, hoping to beat Visa and others to the punch, according to people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.
Moving forward to keep pace with time and tide, the concept of making payment via mobile system is an “Holy Grail” of the tech industry.
Amazingly, the web search and advertising leader is expected to unfurl details about how consumers will be able to make store purchases, redeem coupons, and get loyalty points simply by waving smartphones in front of a small reader at the checkout counter, said people familiar with the matter.
Google invited reporters to attend a “partner event” on Thursday in New York, where it plans to demonstrate its “latest innovations,” dubbed as near field communication, which is embedded in newer smartphones powered by Google’s Android software and that can help turn the devices into a kind of electronic wallet, these people said.
A source familiar with the matter confirmed Google would launch the program. Also, Google has forged alliance with MasterCard, the world’s second-biggest credit and debit card processing entity, and Citigroup Inc. to launch the system, according to one of the people, as well as with cellphone carriers, hardware manufacturers and retailers, another source familiar with the matter informed Reuters.
The Google payments system will allow software developers to create mobile applications, or apps, which take advantage of the technology. Also, the three companies have forged alliance with a few retailers, those include Macy’s Inc., American Eagle Outfitters Inc. and the Subway fast-food chain, said a person familiar with the matter.
Besides, retailers participating in the program will have enhanced terminals at the point of sale that can read the mobile devices and provide special offers.
According to the WSJ, Google will demonstrate new phones with NFC technology at the event. Google reportedly plans to unveil the service initially in New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C., followed by a broader rollout, said a person familiar with the matter.
Many credit card readers empower people to pay or redeem digital coupons by tapping their credit or debit card, but newer ones built by those companies also let people pay through NFC, including by tapping or waving their smartphones.
Furthermore, the mobile wallets will be available only on Google’s Nexus S phone and will employ a Citibank-issued MasterCard credit card number and a virtual Google MasterCard prepaid card. Consumers will be able to make payments at any of the 124,000 merchants that have MasterCard’s PayPass terminals, which accept contact-less payments, a person briefed on the deal said.
Google representatives did not respond to a request for comment. Additionally, the Wall Street Journal earlier reported that Google was working on a mobile payments platform with credit card and financial companies such as Citigroup Inc. and MasterCard Inc., as well as retailers and hardware makers such as VeriFone Systems Inc. and ViVOtech Inc., which make credit card readers.
Citigroup did not respond to requests for comment. Google, Sprint and MasterCard declined comment. Moreover, the people familiar with the deal were not authorized to speak until the deal was publicly announced. The news of the announcement was first reported by Bloomberg News.