Google releases mobile wallet app

Google has launched its much-vaunted Google Wallet application in the US, an e-commerce solution designed to encourage mobile users to ditch their "over-stuffed wallets".

Yesterday, the search engine giant confirmed that it has partnered with US mobile carrier Sprint, First Data and financial firms Citi and MasterCard to launch the service.

The first phones to get access to Google Wallet will be Sprint's Nexus S 4G handsets, which are enabled with near field communications (NFC).

Google Wallet enables users to pay for goods by tapping their phones on compatible terminals at the point of sale. The app can be topped up with funds by using a Citi MasterCard credit card or the Google Prepaid Card.

Early adopters will be rewarded with a $10 (£6.30) free bonus to their Google Prepaid Card if they set it up in Google Wallet before the end of the year.

Watch a demo of Google Wallet in action:



Alongside Citi and MasterCard, Google said that Visa, Discover and American Express have also made available their NFC specifications, which could enable their cards to be added to Google Wallet in future.

Osama Bedier, Google's vice president of payments, wrote in a blog posting: "Our goal is to make it possible for you to add all of your payment cards to Google Wallet, so you can say goodbye to even the biggest traditional wallets.

"This is still just the beginning, and while we're excited about this first step, we look forward to bringing Google Wallet to more phones in the future."

Google has not yet announced plans to bring Google Wallet to the UK. But mobile carriers, Everything Everywhere, O2 and Vodafone are jointly planning to launch their own mobile payments, or m-commerce, solution.

Earlier in the month, 3 filed papers with the European Commission after being cut out of the m-commerce joint venture between its main UK rivals.