According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Google is looking to revamp its Google Wallet initiatives with a new version of the service, which will be built to compete with Apple Pay.
Google Wallet was one of the first mainstream mobile payment options to launch in the United States, but the launch was marred by the lack of carrier support. SoftCard, a competing platform developed by AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile, may have been partially to blame for Google Wallet’s slow start.
Google will reportedly release a new version of Google Wallet during Google I/O in May. The report notes that Google will not only be facing competition from Apple, however, Samsung’s new acquisition of LoopPay should add another major competitor into the mobile payments market.
“If payments become a standard feature of phones, Google has to have a service on a par with Apple or better.”
The company has already confirmed that it wants a broad reaching mobile payment solution that offers more to customers than the ability to tap-and-pay for goods at their local supermarket. This could possible mean that Google is looking into adding store reward cards into their digital wallet.
The report notes that with the successful deployment of Apple Pay, banks are now looking for an option to suit Android users. Google I/O kicks off on May 28, where we expect the company to announce details about the future of Google Wallet.
