You’ve heard of Google Wallet, right? The Google app and payment system that allows customers to make wireless payments at retailers using the NFC chip in their device has been unusable on Verizon-branded Android smartphones ever since Google Wallet was launched, but recently Verizon started allowing consumers to install the app on their devices.
However, one still can’t make any payments through Google Wallet despite the app being installed, and in a report to the FCC, Verizon states the reason for this is that the app hasn’t been approved to work with Verizon devices because it’s different than other apps on the Google Play Store. Verizon argues that since Google Wallet uses something called the “secure element” (which isn’t explained in the document) on a phone, it needs to go through a separate approval process of theirs that Google apparently already knows about.
Verizon also states that Google is free to offer a version of the app sans the integration of the secure element, like other payment apps such as PayPal and Square that are approved on Verizon’s network. The approval process hasn’t been explained by Verizon, but Droid Life speculates that it could be similar to the Isis Mobile Wallet app, which uses NFC-equipped SIM cards for securing NFC payments, and the carrier could be wanting Google to launch such SIM cards in order to gain approval for Wallet.
There’s no info on what Verizon and Google are doing to solve this issue, but until things get cleared up, it is the Verizon customers that are at the losing end for now as they are unable to use Google Wallet for payments. Verizon has a lot of NFC-equipped devices in the market, so it would be great if both companies work together on resolving the matter.
Via: Droid Life
