Not every decision Apple makes is a profitable one business-wise. ApplePay, however, is, and without a shadow of a doubt, Google is well aware of the potential it holds. It seems that Google is considering reviving Google Wallet in order to directly compete on this front too with Apple, if a report by the Wall Street Journal is to be believed. Google’s Wallet service never managed to gain the traction and popularity the company was hoping for, and is primarily used by people in the online medium that make use of Google’s other various services, such as AdWords. Regardless, this is likely to change, as ApplePay has clearly shown that mobile payments are certainly not a thing of the past.
Carriers in the United States weren’t too thrilled by Google’s Wallet service awhile back, blocking the feature that stored credit card info, and focusing on launching ISIS. No, not the terrorist organization (Islamic State), but we get why you’d be confused, and so did the developers of the mobile payment system, as ISIS is now called Softcard to avoid confusion and well, negativity. In any case, Softcard’s success is debatable, and US carriers are now left with an unsuccessful platform and a successful one (ApplePay) that they are getting no cuts from. Hence, it’s easy to see why a shift in attitude towards Google’s Wallet system could be taking place in the higher management of carriers such as AT&T and T-Mobile.
To sweeten the deal, Google is allegedly planning on offering carriers a much better deal this time around, paying them once to feature Wallet on all their Android offerings, while also giving them a significant chunk of revenues from ads. Win-win? Most likely. While definitely more costly for Google than for Apple, this process does ensure revenues, revenues which Google is currently missing out on. Whether or not this deal with materialize later this year remains to be seen – there’s nothing official about it yet. However, it’s a logical step, and based on all evidence, it’s one that the search-engine creating company will likely take. Would you use Google’s Wallet system on your Android phone, if given a chance?