ISIS – SomeGadgetGuy

April 15, 2015

Google Properly Kills Softcard in New Update. Google Wallet Reigns Supreme.

I’ve already written a cranky editorial about how frustrating it’s been to watch Google and the Carriers repeatedly shoot themselves in the foot over mobile NFC payments. Thankfully, with Google buying out Softcard, we can maybe see some more progress in the retail arena.

My Note 4 just got an app update this morning for the pre-installed Softcard service, which now labels “Google Inc” as the developer. Upon opening the app, what did I find? You are no longer able to create a new Softcard account, and are now directed to use Google Wallet.

It’s dead Jim, and I can’t say I’m sorry to see it go.

February 23, 2015

Google Buys Softcard in the Most Frustrating Mobile Payment Move Possible

It’s officially official. Google now owns Softcard, and it’s everything I can do to not smash my face into my keyboard hard enough to erase from my memory the YEARS of debacles and shenanigans that led us up to this point.

Announced on the Google Commerce blog today, Big G is buying out Softcard from T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon Wireless. Google Wallet will now come pre-installed on Android handsets sold by these carriers.

This is ultimately good news, but one can’t help but wonder how much further ahead mobile phone payments would have been if we hadn’t witnessed this format war between cell carriers and Google. The two entities dickering around for years, carriers blocking the implementation of NFC Tap & Pay, until they had rolled out a competing “standard” built on differing security protocols. Making relationships with retailers more difficult. It was presciently fitting that the first iteration of Softcard was called ISIS. Only to end up now where we should have been all along.

It’s no wonder Apple was able to roll into this space and instantly dominate the market. Google has their work cut out for them, but at least moving forward they wont have the entire wireless industry digging in their heels and holding them back.

You can read Google’s full press release below.

Continue reading “Google Buys Softcard in the Most Frustrating Mobile Payment Move Possible”

April 8, 2014

Select AT&T Phones Now Supporting Google Wallet Tap & Pay, But Is It Too Late For NFC?

The saga of mobile payments continues.

I woke up this morning to find my LG G2 had an update ready to install. I couldn’t find any changelog for what was being updated or what bug fixes were included, but I went ahead and ran it. Immediately following the procedure my phone had a new notification from Google Wallet.

Tap & Pay functionality is now supported on my LG G2.

Google tried to shake up mobile payments almost two years ago introducing the idea of NFC backed mobile payments. The first devices supporting it were the Nexus line, for me personally, the Nexus 7 tablet. I tried it out exactly once, as trying to pay at CVS with a mini-tablet tethered to my phone’s data connection was cumbersome to say the least.

Since then we’ve seen something of a feud over mobile transactions between Google and various carriers. Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T worked together on creating the ISIS platform, which is slowly starting to find support on the phones sold by those companies. Over this time period they largely blocked any momentum for Tap & Pay by banning Google Wallet on the devices they sold.

Is it too late for NFC?

Almost two years where consumers could have been getting used to the idea and building an infrastructure were essentially lost.

Recently it was announced that Best Buy and 7-Eleven would be getting rid of their NFC supported mobile payment machines. Credit card terminals which are more expensive to install, require more cashier training, and often can result in higher fees from banks.

More competition in this space is looming from the Merchant Consumer Exchange. Like Best Buy and 7-Eleven, other companies such as Target, CVS, and Sears are a part of the MCX and are considering their own payment protocol based on barcodes like the ones used at Starbucks. A system like this could gain traction quickly as NFC payments require a special radio which the iPhone lacks, but barcodes only need to display on your screen.

The knowledge of this outside competition might be just the pressure needed to ease some of the entrenched cold war between Google and the carriers, but their squabble has cost them a considerable lead.

Are you currently using an NFC payment system like ISIS or Wallet? Are you more likely to try one in the future? Leave us a comment below!

September 17, 2013

Google updating Wallet, Send money to other Wallet users, store Loyalty Cards

The dream of mobile payments, tapping a phone to a store kiosk to pay for your shopping. Google’s been slowly pushing into this consumer relationship with Wallet. Storing your credit card information, and utilizing NFC to tap & pay at select retailers. This hardware functionality has progressed very slowly as cell carriers have been trying to push a competing standard called ISIS, which uses a different kind of security which is incompatible with Google’s offering. Pretty much means we consumers get left without a working solution. Any time there’s a “format war” it’s bad for the industry (remember HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray). As it stands now, only 29 phones have proper NFC tap & pay functionality. I’m sure you notice a disturbing lack of Verizon and AT&T handsets on that list…

We’ve heard little news from the Wallet team over the last several months, but it looks like Google has been busy working on a Wallet expansion. Rolling out soon to Android users in the United States, Wallet is about to learn a few new tricks.

Google opened up the ability for Wallet users to send money to other Wallet users through GMail, and now that’s coming to the app. In a clear shot at services like Paypal, transfers from a linked bank account are free, and a 2.9% fee will be attached when sending money with credit or debit card.

In addition to payments, Google is also expanding the scope of Wallet to take some of the strain off of your physical non-digital wallet. If you’ve got a stack of store Loyalty cards, you can leave them at home now. Wallet will store and track your cards, coupons, and points alongside your purchases. Having used similar services, it’s nice just pulling up the card on my phone instead of having a bunch of filthy, peeling, plastic tabs on my key ring.

The Wallet update will roll out this week.

More info on the Google Commerce blog.