Search engine company Google has announced its foray into digital payments using Near-Field Communications (NFC) technology with its new service ‘Wallet’ for smartphones.
The digital payment service will allow users to make purchases by waving their phones at special readers installed at stores. The service will offer loyalty points to customers and keep track of their spending.
The company hopes that the service will help bridge the gap between online and offline commerce.
Google said in its official blogpost, the Wallet is "aimed at making it easier for you to pay for and save on the goods you want, while giving merchants more ways to offer coupons and loyalty programs to customers, as well as bridging the gap between online and offline commerce."
Initially, the service will only support a Citi Mastercard and a Google prepaid card.
Google said, "Many merchants are working to integrate their offers and loyalty programs with Google Wallet."
The feature will debut in Nexus S 4G phones.
Meanwhile, eBay and its online payment unit, PayPal, has filed a lawsuit against Google and two executives for stealing trade secrets related to mobile payment systems, reported Reuters.
The two executives accused of breaking a contract with eBay are Osama Bedier and Stephanie Tilenius. They were both former employees of PayPal and participated in the launch of Google Wallet mobile payment service.
According to the suit, Bedier worked with PayPal for nine years, before joining Google in January this year. Tilenius was a consultant to eBay from 2001 to 2009 and joined Google in February 2010 as vice-president of e-Commerce.
