Why is Google Wallet such a failure?

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Sorry for the dramatic headline but the way I look at it is that this product has probably had the worst possible execution so far.

1. Anytime I ask people to pay via Google Wallet, Venmo or PayPal are far more prevalent methods. Let's not even mention Chase QuickPay, or Bank of America transfers, which are just as limited in that they're US only and more limited in that they're limited to a specific financial institution; yet these bank payment systems are more popular.
2. The spread of NFC payments has been... pathetic at best. Whether it's limiting the Google Wallet app to take only Citi cards or MasterCard for 2 years, and limiting itself to certain carriers, and phones, it's like we've gone nowhere since 2010 when the Nexus S was first announced with NFC payments.
3. What about transit cards? I remember when NFC came onto phones and people (likely here at AT) were optimistic because Europe and Asia use transit cards all the time. Yet you can't pay with your phone today. Whether it's a technological limitation or whatever doesn't matter. I think many individuals were overly hopeful but didn't realize that NFC payments wouldn't spread very far.
4. You can't pay a store directly? Take the PayPal app or the Square app. You can locate stores nearby that you can pay and go buy a coffee or a sandwich. You can't do this with Google Wallet. As cool as NFC payments is, what's even cooler is ordering from your phone or not even having to bring your phone to a kiosk or to rely on a kiosk. Just pay by app. To me this is a huge WTF. Google had Google Checkout since 2006 and they couldn't partner with stores to do mobile payments? Even though PayPal has been around longer, I highly doubt PayPal had setup payment systems with restaurants and cafes, so they clearly figured it out in a short amount of time since the mobile revolution.

Sorry. Just ranting here. I actually complained that Venmo is a dumb idea in that there's a lack of security and privacy, and I don't understand it got popular. I have no problem with PayPal, but when the other alternative, Google Wallet, is so poorly designed, how can I blame people for not wanting to use Venmo.

Some of the fault has to be marketing too. When you go to Venmo's site, it's a quick and easy setup. Want to send money to your friends? Let's get started. Step 1, 2, 3 ,4... Wallet seems to be less straightforward. There's no appeal to anyone to use Wallet in fact. If they're not pushing people to use it as a product to send money to Bob or John, and there's no ability to pay a store around you directly and quickly, there's little appeal for the general public. Pushing it as an NFC payment method really shouldn't be the primary focus anymore... unless they're magically going to make NFC THE payment standard (given that it's gone nowhere in the past 3 years, I'm not convinced that strategy would work).

The execution has been piss poor at best. I'm just trying to imagine someone who developed Google Wallet and helped it launch. Either this is their level of competence, or they're sitting there helplessly while management completely ruins it with terrible execution.

Okay, enough ranting.

 

[notposting]

Well the carriers here in the states have fought it tooth and nail. And are finally getting ISIS out there...in a half-assed way. You can use it on Android. You can use it with an iPhone if you have a specific case. You can't use it with WP8 or even BB10 despite the unending stream of Twitter hounding they get for those platforms. It won't be on Sprint IIRC.

And yeah, now it is to the point some chains are actively disabling their NFC hardware terminals, they will do the comparatively less secure "scan a bar code on a screen" or just stick to swiping a card. So ISIS may never even get off the ground (and I don't why it should have anyway--Google Wallet should have been fine, MS Wallet should have been fine, etc).

Go USA.

 

[notposting]

I've had a Secure Element SIM in my Lumia since last June and it's done me a fat lot of nothing. Nothing like having Verizon disabling NFC payments in the Wallet in favor of their BS skim off the top ISIS service...that they won't actually provide...

 

[Dulanic]

It's mostly due to resistance from the US carriers along with the US banks. Eventually it will all go mobile but not likely until tokenization becomes standard. That is really what the banks are pushing for as it will help prevent the mass data compromises we are seeing lately like target.

Why should Google and others invest much into a dying payment system? They're smarter to hold off a couple years and see what standard takes hold. IMO it will be tokenization as a huge group of banks are getting behind it.

There is also merchant resistance due to having to invest money into accepting those payment types.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

They don't need to push it as a NFC payments only option. Like right now there's sending money. Look how far Venmo's gotten as a pure send money tool. Even tools like Chase QuickPay are more often used for sending money than Google Wallet.

But what about mobile payment that's non NFC? Square seems to have done a good job there. Sure maybe they got a head start, but PayPal also go the mobile payment down too

 

[s44]

I dunno, in NYC the NFC options are pretty good, and have been for a while. Every cab, Whole Foods, lots of drugstores... hell, even my local Met Food takes it.

 

[MarkLuvsCS]

I use google wallet at least once a week on campus. Nearly all vending machines on campus have em. They don't really take much longer than swiping a card either.

 

[lothar]

I have never heard of Venmo prior to this thread. Obviously it's a failure more so than Google Wallet.

 

[s44]

I have never heard of Venmo prior to this thread.

Lucas is sad.

 

[lothar]

Lucas is sad.

Who is Lucas?

Seriously though...I'm telling the truth.
I've heard of PayPal, Square, ISIS, and Google Wallet's mobile payments.
I've never heard of Venmo.

The problem with mobile payments is that there's no industry standard.
PayPal is in certain stores, Square is in certain stores, ISIS is in very *few* stores, and bigbox retailers like Wal-Mart/Target are joining forces to create their own independent mobile payment systems.
So many mobile payment systems out there that getting your card from your wallet is still more convenient than using one of these mobile payment systems.

Regarding 'sending money to people'...
I always do "bank to bank", which gets credited the same day and doesn't have any charges. I mean, who in the US doesn't have a Bank of America account nowadays?

I have never sent money "PayPal to PayPal", and my PayPal will strictly remain only attached to my credit card account. I did have to verify my account once I reached the $2k spending limit on PayPal, but the bank on my PayPal account is old...They still have ING Direct listed which as everyone knows, no longer exists.

 

[tential]

US phone carriers blocked Google Wallet on their phones.

US Phone Carriers are in bed with ISIS (Sounds like an Archer episode now lol) as their NFC payment option which has been in beta testing forever now.

So because it's blocked by phone carriers, the only way to get it is to root your phone. Then of course you now have to convince stores to use Google Wallet, which phone carriers are ACTIVELY working against. Then you have to convince people "Hey, you should use google wallet even though your phone carrier is doing everything in its power to make sure you can't use it."

So no, google wallet isn't a failure at all OP. It's laws in the US that allow companies to be anti-competitive. You probably should have at least acknowledged that.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

US phone carriers blocked Google Wallet on their phones.

US Phone Carriers are in bed with ISIS (Sounds like an Archer episode now lol) as their NFC payment option which has been in beta testing forever now.

So because it's blocked by phone carriers, the only way to get it is to root your phone. Then of course you now have to convince stores to use Google Wallet, which phone carriers are ACTIVELY working against. Then you have to convince people "Hey, you should use google wallet even though your phone carrier is doing everything in its power to make sure you can't use it."

So no, google wallet isn't a failure at all OP. It's laws in the US that allow companies to be anti-competitive. You probably should have at least acknowledged that.

Google was tied because NFC payments were restricted by carriers given that it's so deeply embedded in the hardware.

The sending money aspect is completely uninhibited by the carriers, which is how Venmo and PayPal are such popular apps.

I have never heard of Venmo prior to this thread. Obviously it's a failure more so than Google Wallet.

I've used it twice in 2 years, but once again I may be biased because I live in a tech bubble. I logged in last night to see that I scrolled past 4 pages (20-30 items) and I was still on the same day. Clearly it's pretty popular where I am amongst people my age. I'm willing to bet Venmo is more known than Isis and Square Wallet (the Square equivalent of PayPal for consumers)

Quite honestly, Venmo didn't do anything revolutionary. They just capitalized on social networking and leveraged Facebook and Twitter oauth logins to link you with your friends. PayPal had a pretty easy shot early on but it looks like they didn't capitalize.

 

[Fritzo]

Most people don't know they can check email on their phones much less make payments with some magical wireless payment system...

 

[Bateluer]

US phone carriers blocked Google Wallet on their phones.

US Phone Carriers are in bed with ISIS (Sounds like an Archer episode now lol) as their NFC payment option which has been in beta testing forever now.

So because it's blocked by phone carriers, the only way to get it is to root your phone. Then of course you now have to convince stores to use Google Wallet, which phone carriers are ACTIVELY working against. Then you have to convince people "Hey, you should use google wallet even though your phone carrier is doing everything in its power to make sure you can't use it."

So no, google wallet isn't a failure at all OP. It's laws in the US that allow companies to be anti-competitive. You probably should have at least acknowledged that.

Pretty much this. US carriers killed Wallet before it could even get off the ground.

 

[s44]

Then of course you now have to convince stores to use Google Wallet

No you don't. Any PayPass-enabled terminal will accept it, it's nothing special to Wallet. And I believe the two major CC companies are pushing for all terminals to be NFC-enabled by 2015.

 

[destrekor]

Pretty much this. US carriers killed Wallet before it could even get off the ground.

Wallet still exists, and works just fine.

But I guess you are correct, because many people don't do anything advanced with this phone, like rooting. Although I cannot remember, I might not of even actually installed Wallet on my Moto X. Or did I? Verizon Moto X users, chime in - I forgot. lol

That said, with minimal effort, you can get Wallet installed, and most phones have NFC. And it appears to accept any kind of credit card.

 

[destrekor]

No you don't. Any PayPass-enabled terminal will accept it, it's nothing special to Wallet. And I believe the two major CC companies are pushing for all terminals to be NFC-enabled by 2015.

This.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Pretty much this. US carriers killed Wallet before it could even get off the ground.

The thing is Isis never took off either. I get that NFC payments might be hard to push, but Google should've and was certainly capable of pushing mobile payments via the app itself. They had Google Checkout to leverage. I dunno, maybe they truly believed that NFC has so much potential?

 

[lothar]

The thing is Isis never took off either. I get that NFC payments might be hard to push, but Google should've and was certainly capable of pushing mobile payments via the app itself. They had Google Checkout to leverage. I dunno, maybe they truly believed that NFC has so much potential?

How much leverage does Google Checkout truly have?
I've bought stuff using PayPal(for myself) and Amazon Payments(for other people using their own Amazon accounts). I don't think I've ever bought anything in my lifetime using "Google Checkout". I may have seen it on Newegg or some other random online computer parts store here and there but I don't think it's as popular as you seem to think it is.

 

[NesuD]

I don't believe that Verizon is actually preventing their customers from installing wallet anymore. As soon as Isis launched wallet became available for install in the playstore. I installed it on my Verizon RAZR MAXX and am using it now on my HTC One M8 no rooting needed.

 

[PowerYoga]

works fine for me. The only problem is finding places that actually use the NFC reader at the checkout lanes. The only place I've seen them are inside cabs and CVS.

 

[A5]

works fine for me. The only problem is finding places that actually use the NFC reader at the checkout lanes. The only place I've seen them are inside cabs and CVS.

Home Depot and McDonald's have them here.

But Wallet is slower than just swiping my card, so...

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

How much leverage does Google Checkout truly have?
I've bought stuff using PayPal(for myself) and Amazon Payments(for other people using their own Amazon accounts). I don't think I've ever bought anything in my lifetime using "Google Checkout". I may have seen it on Newegg or some other random online computer parts store here and there but I don't think it's as popular as you seem to think it is.

They had a push back in 2006 remember? They had a lot of discounts on fee and were fee free in many cases for some time. Large retailers like Buy.com and Newegg had them too. I see some other checkout history in my transaction history with CellHut and Dick's sporting goods. It looks like I also bought my first Android Phone via Negri Electronics using Checkout as well.

I'm not suggesting that it's popular. It's one of those things Google tried that didn't really take off, but my point was that they had the back end payment processing capabilities already. The system was setup, and so just like you can pay a restaurant through the PayPal app, it could've been just as easy to set them up through Google Wallet. It's not so much that PayPal went and got all the vendors registered through PayPal, but I think they worked with partners like Eat24, Grubhub, Seamless, etc to get an ordering and payment system to work.

My main argument is that NFC payments only goes so far, and if Google can't get people to change the way they pay at the terminal, I don't see why they couldn't have offered a multi prong approach given that Wallet is also meant for sending money between individuals.

I think in the end you get a product that's specialized in NFC but offers no real advantages. In terms of sending money between people, there are alternatives that are far more popular and have wider adoption, and given that there's no ability to just pay a vendor through the app itself, internet payments (be it mobile or non mobile) will never take off either. So really, what is there left for Google Wallet?

 

[PowerYoga]

Home Depot and McDonald's have them here.

But Wallet is slower than just swiping my card, so...

Two places I never go, I guess that explains it.

I don't disagree with you, but with wallet you don't have to take out your cards to swipe with. I guess you can argue that with credit cards you don't need to take out your phone to nfc with...

I guess its just preference. NFC works but its not a technology that's much in use.

/shrug

 

[MichaelBarg]

Two places I never go, I guess that explains it.

I don't disagree with you, but with wallet you don't have to take out your cards to swipe with. I guess you can argue that with credit cards you don't need to take out your phone to nfc with...

I guess its just preference. NFC works but its not a technology that's much in use.

/shrug

That's the thing, it works fine. But it's not a big enough improvement to drive widespread adoption based on being better. IMO unless something happens to either make it way better for the average user than credit cards, or some major players (which as I think about it probably means the big banks) make a big push it won't go anywhere.