Google has recently made moves to put itself into position to take on the biggest competitor in the electronic payment application industry: Apple Pay. Google Wallet was introduced by Google in 2011 as a secure means of effortless electronic payment, online and in-store, but it had not done very well due to its then-competitor, Softcard. Softcard was launched in 2010, but the tap-and-pay mobile app did not hit the market until two years later due to development problems.

 

Apple Pay, on the other hand, was debuted in September 2014 and is already accountable for two of every three dollars paid on contactless purchases, according to Apple CEO Tim Cook. Apple Pay partnered with Visa, Mastercard and American Express along with over 2,000 banks and a number of retailers to monopolize the mobile pay market, but its reign may be coming to an end.

 

Today, Google announced that its Wallet app would be pre-installed on Android phones sold through U.S. major mobile phone carriers AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile. Not only did it secure distribution, but Google also obtained software and information from Softcard, its competitor of the recent past. Softcard originated as a joint-venture between these same wireless carriers.

 

The battle for mobile payment monopoly is of course nothing new, and hosts more contenders than just Softcard, Google Wallet and Apple Pay. For years, comparable services have been promising to revolutionize in-store payments including efforts by PayPal, the merchandising conglomerate MCX, and the startup, Square. What is new now is Google Wallet’s recent advances on Apple Pay’s position at number one in the mobile purchasing services market.