Google: NFC Payments Growing, Still Three to Five Years Out

Do you use your smartphone's built-in NFC capabilities instead of a hunk of dilapidated plastic to pay for things at your favorite stores?

Congratulations. By Google's standards, you're pretty much an early adopter. And you're likely to be for a little bit of time, as the world of NFC payments -- while on the increase – isn't expected to really hit mass-market appeal for a few more years.

That's the word straight from Google vice president of wallets and payments, Osama Bedier. Speaking in a Friday session at the Global Mobile Internet Conference in San Jose, California, Bedier indicated that Google's making great strides in NFC by way of just how many transactions are being processed using its Google Wallet app, but mainstream NFC adoption still has a ways to go.

"We didn't think NFC was just going to happen in a single year. This is a three-to-five-year game," Bedier said.

As for just how many transactions Google's processing, Bedier declined to deliver specifics – as is Google's custom when discussing its Wallet app. He did mention that the number of Google Wallet transactions doubled in the first six weeks after Google launched a new Cloud-friendly version of the app that expands users' ability to pay using different sources.

Previously, Google Wallet only linked up with a user's Citibank Mastercard or a prepaid card – that's it. Google's August 1 enhancements to Google Wallet allow users to link any credit card they want as a payment option for the app, as this information is no longer stored on a physical chip on one's NFC-supported phone. Instead, it's accessible via the cloud, and the move also gives users an easy method for disabling payments connected to Google Wallet in the event that their phones are lost or swiped.

However, Google still requires users to have specific Sprint or Virgin Mobile phones in order to officially run Google Wallet. More industrious smartphone owners can root their devices and install Google Wallet anyway, but Google's wised up to the practice and now plants an "Unsupported Device" warning atop one's Google Wallet app, which links to a strong, discouraging message about the potential security pitfalls of running a rooted smartphone.

According to Bedier, Google needs additional support from mobile carriers in order for NFC to ultimately prove successful as a mobile payment technique – a move that'll require some heavy lifting to push past the convenience of the credit card system in the U.S.

source: David Murphy