The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google has begun working with Mastercard and Citigroup to make NFC mobile payments a reality. NFC, or near-field communication, was touted by Eric Schmidt back in December of last year when Google’s flagship device, the Nexus S, was announced. The contact-less payment system would allow customers to simply tap or wave their NFC supported mobile device to make payments at stores that support the new technology. Retail giant, Wal-Mart, has also confirmed that they have met with Google to begin preliminary discussions about the new tech. Additionally, VeriFone Systems is working to bring more contact-less supported readers to merchants.
Contact-less payment machines and credit cards have been around for years now, but most consumers aren’t aware of it — and if they are, most have concerns about sending confidential information over the air. “Because it’s contact-less there’s a perception people can grab it from thin air, but it’s actually a more sophisticated technology than credit cards with a magnetic stripe, making it more difficult to steal a consumer’s payment information,” said Nick Holland, a mobile-transactions analyst at Yankee Group.
