Where is Google Wallet accepted? What is NFC payments experience like?

Where is Google Wallet accepted? What is NFC payments experience like?

It’s been a month since Google launched the Google Wallet NFC mobile wallet officially. There have been a string of announcements since from Google about where the Google Wallet will be accepted, but sometimes it’s hard to keep up with all the NFC news that passes our way. So, we thought we’d let you know where Google Wallet can be used and we would also share the latest Google video that shows consumers using the Google Wallet for the first time during promotions in and around New York. We will warn you though – people have an emotional reaction to using the Google Wallet! Let’s start off with the Google Wallet video and take it from there.

Where can I use the Google Wallet NFC mobile wallet service?

Before we get to the where, let’s answer the how. You can use the Google Wallet if you have a Nexus S 4G running on Sprint. A few hacker genius’ over at XDA Developers managed to hack it so any Nexus S could run the wallet even on T-Mobile and AT&T but that isn’t an adventure for the faint of heart. Google seems to have been kicking everything off in the major US cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C but it is available in stores everywhere.

Google has already upgraded Google Wallet by adding SingleTap, which is a feature that allows consumers to perform the same action to redeem a coupon as make a payment. This generally makes the experience of using Google Wallet even more frictionless. If you don’t know how the offers work, it’s completely hands-off for the most part. You can download offers you find and add them into the app. Generally if an offer is available, Google Wallet applies it to any purchase at point-of-sale. Google Offers site inside the Google Wallet and requires you to do nothing in particular to participate or save hard earned cold cash. Cool, eh? Now you know why all those people were so surprised in the video above.

Google Wallet Where

As you may already know, the Google Wallet was announced in May with launch partners that included Citi, FirstData and MasterCard, but with those supporters came a whole host of retailing merchants. Since Google Wallet has been switched on, more and more of them are announcing that they now accept the NFC mobile wallet payments. American Eagle Outfitters, The Container Store, Foot Locker, Guess, Jamba Juice, Macy’s, OfficeMax, Subway, Sunoco and Toys“R”Us all signed up from the get go. All of these merchants also signed up for Google Offers, and you will very soon be able to see discounts in a newly added “Featured Offers” section inside the Google Wallet.

Loyalty is built into Google Wallet

As well as offers and discounts, Google Wallet also supports loyalty programs that are managed in the Google Wallet and redeemed with the aforementioned app. Foot Locker, Guess, OfficeMax, Peets Coffee and Tea and American Eagle Outfitters are all part of the initial crew to support this feature, although many more are expected within the coming months.

However, the merchants we have mentioned so far are just the tip of the iceberg of retailers who are signing up. Google keeps the names of potential partners close to its chest, but we do know that Chevron, D’Agostino, Faber News Now, Gristedes Supermarkets, Sheetz gas stations and Pinkberry stores are all ready to hit the go button and accept Google Wallet. Macy’s and Bloomingdales are also due to start testing and rolling out Google Wallet support this month. They are just the official merchants that are accepting Google Wallet, and although we haven’t seen the likes of Target and Walmart make announcements yet, if Google Wallet carries on picking up merchants as quickly as it has we feel sure it won’t take long.

We are expecting more NFC phones that will be capable of running the wallet in the next few weeks, potentially including the Samsung Galaxy Nexus which is due to be announced tomorrow. Google Wallet sorely needs more handsets that will support its app and networks that won’t shut it out because of their own lust for profits from consumers. Google doesn’t directly make any money from the Google Wallet and instead gets its revenue from ads and offers from retail merchants. So, technically they pay and you save. There are no more costs that get passed on to the consumer. We say technically because you really never know.

MasterCard released an Android app that charted everywhere PayPass payments could be made – we covered the app here, but here we want to hand it over to you. Google Wallet is accepted at more places than we have listed. Any store with a PayPass reader can accept Google Wallet payments and we want to know where you have seen these capabilities. Please let everyone know in the comments below the city and chain of retailers in which you have seen Google Wallet being used and let’s see if we can get a near complete list of places that accept Google Wallet.