Visa responds to Google Wallet with NFC mobile payment plan of its own
Google has officially launched the mobile payment app wars with the introduction of Google Wallet today. One of the Google's project partners is MasterCard, and its chief competitor already has a response and a game plan.
Visa’s head of Global Product Jim McCarthy took to the credit card company's official blog today to remind everyone that Visa is already on track with an NFC-enabled program of its own.
Visa already has a mobile payment program, Visa payWave, that is active at approximately 300,000 locations worldwide. (For more details about Visa's electronic payment schemes, check out SmartPlanet's full report.) Even though payWave might be simple, not enough consumers have really caught on to this product (or even MasterCard's PayPass).
On paper, Visa's NFC payment service actually looks fairly solid - especially with some big name financial partners attached to the project: Bank of America, Chase, US Bank and Wells Fargo.
McCarthy explains:
Our mobile solution in the United States is designed to be used on any mobile network, with any NFC-enabled smart phone, with any financial institution and on any payment product (credit, debit, prepaid). Bottom line: We are committed to providing consumers with choice by allowing them to make mobile payments with whatever mobile device they choose using the trusted accounts they already have.
As of now, Visa will launch its own digital wallet in the United States and Canada this fall. The big questions that remain are: How will Visa launch its NFC service...and will it do so with the help of one of Google's biggest competitors? (Read: Apple.)
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