Is it happening again? It might be happening again. Verizon Wireless is still evaluating whether or not to support Samsung’s soon-to-be-launched mobile payments service, Samsung Pay, on its devices, according to a representative we spoke with from the company.
Currently most of us have to inform our bank by phone when we’re travelling to avoid purchases in other countries appearing as red flags for fraud and being declined. That could soon change as Visa looks to track smartphones with a service called Mobile Location Confirmation in order to help their security systems become smarter and reduce declined purchases by as much as 30%.
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Samsung is planning to launch its own mobile payment service next year, in competition to both Google Wallet and Apple Pay, reports Re/code. It suggests that the company is in talks with LoopPay, a startup which describes itself as “the most accepted mobile wallet on the planet.”
The technology would allow people with certain Samsung phones to pay in the vast majority of brick and mortar stores by waving their phones instead of swiping with a credit card or cash […]
The talks between Samsung and LoopPay come as the idea of paying for goods in stores using a phone was rekindled in the U.S. thanks to the launch of Apple Pay.
The plan would allow Samsung’s mobile payment service to work with all cards and all payment terminals right out of the box …
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Small businesses looking to take occasional card payments without paying monthly fees now have a third option as Amazon has launched Local Register to compete with Square and PayPal Here – as we predicted last month over on 9to5Mac. The $10 card-reader is currently only compatible with the Samsung Galaxy S3, S4 and S5, along with the Kindle Fire HD and HDX tablets, but more devices are expected to be added.
Amazon is undercutting both competitor services with a flat fee of 2.5 percent per transaction (vs 2.7 percent for PayPal Here and 2.75 percent for Square). Not enough? Amazon is sweetening the deal with a special introductory rate of 1.75 percent until the end of 2015, and will also credit the $10 cost of the cardreader in full against transaction fees …
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Google Wallet has been updated today with a few new features including enhancements to the overall user interface. As for the UI, the app’s navigation has been moved around slightly with loaded cards stored in the “My Wallet” tab apart from your default card.
Google also noted “improvements to the user interface, application stability, and battery life” in the update’s release notes and highlighted support for all cards from Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover.
Google Wallet is available on Google Play here.
9to5Google previously detailed a leaked version of Google Wallet that plans to soon introduce a physical Google Wallet card, but a new leak today adds another layer of credibility to the piling speculation.
As noted by TechCrunch, Google let the cat out of the bag again today on its “Eligible Devices” page under the Help section of the Google Wallet website. The page listed all of the Android devices “eligible to download the Google Wallet app for use with the Google Wallet card.”
Last week’s leaked screenshots of the Google Wallet app also called the physical cards “Google Wallet card.” With that said, Google’s Eligible Device page no longer mentions them. It seems Google has promptly corrected its mistake. Hmm.
Check out the updated webpage below.
Google has apparently added the option to “Buy Google Play Credit” on the Play Store’s web version, so U.S. customers can now go to the bottom of the store to purchase credits in increment starting at $5:
There does not seem to be a choice for gifting credits, but that will feature will likely surface down the road—along with availability in other countries.
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Google posted two new videos on its YouTube channel last night that demonstrate Google Wallet’s online service and tap-and-pay capabilities. The above video details how users can pay online by signing into their account anywhere Google Wallet is accepted, where as the video below shows how they can pay in-store by tapping a Google Wallet-enabled smartphone anywhere “contactless” NFC payments are accepted.
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Google rolled out its Google Wallet web app at the beginning of the month and introduced support for all major credit cards, including Visa, MasterCard, America Express, and Discover, at the same time. Today, the company announced on the Google Commerce blog that Discover Card is the first to implement the new “Save to Wallet” API for credit and debit card issuers.
Discover securely transmits all required information directly to Google Wallet. You can then select your Discover Card to be the primary method the Google Wallet app will use for in-store purchases, or when shopping online from Google Play or other merchants that accept Google Wallet. You’ll continue to earn rewards on every purchase you make. Discover has also provided Google Wallet with card imagery for the Discover More® Card, so you can easily identify your virtual Discover card in your mobile wallet.
Google demoed the new API during its full Wallet session at Google I/O in June. The feature allows card issuers and eventually other partners to provide a “Save to Wallet” or “Add Your Card” option in their website or application to securely transfer card and account information to Google Wallet. Google said the API would eventually extend to saving Offers in addition to payment cards.
To save a Discover Card to Google Wallet, follow the instructions below:
Hackers uncovered an issue this week with Google Wallet on routed phones. The hackers found that pin numbers for Google Wallet on rooted phones can be cracked with simple software. Google quickly released a statement and said it is working on a fix. Meanwhile, a hack also released for non-rooted devices, which is a huge safety concern. Late last night, Google released a post on its Commerce Blog giving a little more of its view on the matter.
Google announced that it would disable provisioning of prepaid cards. This will help if you ever lose a phone and someone wants to use your prepaid card to make purchases. This is a temporary solution, but Google is still looking for a permanent fix.
Google also reminded us that it offers a toll-free line if users ever have a concern or question about Google Wallet accounts. The support line is open 24/7.
Google also said that Google Wallet is safer than plastic cards and folded wallets. The company even talked about the security concerns’ rooting an Android device creates: