Google Competes Directly With Apple Pay

Steven Petrov

The Paw Print

The most famous search engine in the world, Google, is the owner and developer of the “Android” operating system that has been used by every smartphone aside from Apple products. The rivalry between Google’s “Android” and “iOS” by Apple has been growing, and both of the companies have been trying to come up with new upgrades, modifications, and services (apps) that would put them one step ahead of the competition. As we know, on September 9^th, 2014 Apple introduced the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6+, which are both running on the newest operating system by Apple “iOS6.” It was introduced with the so-called “Apple Pay,” which represents a payment system that literally turns your iPhone into a “wallet.”  This offered a, unique at that time, service to all of the Apple users and represented a challenge for Google and “Android.” However, Apple’s main competitor in the smartphone software development announced a new partnership that will enhance the usage of the previously developed “Google Wallet.” The app will now come with every new Android smartphone that is purchased from AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile, virtually allowing people to pay for their purchases of goods and services with a simple scanning of the smartphone.

Google’s product strategy and business development director, Ariel Bardin, officially announced the new partnership on February 24^th. The company’s smartphone software operating system has enjoyed wide spread popularity ever since it was first introduced to the market. People point out that some of the major benefits that “Android” has over “iOS” is the ability that it gives its users to customize and modify their smartphones by downloading and installing various different apps for free from Google Store and other app stores out there.

The new partnership between Google and the 3 largest mobile operators in the US, AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, will obligate “Google Wallet” to incorporate a new payment method within the app called “SoftCard,” which is a joint-venture between the 3 mobile operators. The original business plan of Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile was to develop a proprietary product that will be an app that could be used only by smartphones purchased from their respective companies. However, this initiative didn’t prove to be successful and now the mobile giants are seeing their partnership with Google as an incredible opportunity to further develop the “SoftCard” concept. Google could also benefit from this partnership significantly because of the much larger exposure that Android users will have to “Google Wallet.” The product first came to the market in 2011 but was only supported by the smallest US mobile operator, Sprint, while at that time the above-mentioned “giants” in the mobile operating industry were focused on the development of “SoftCard.” Now it seems like the perfect timing for this new business relationship from which both parties could end up as big winners.

This will definitely challenge the fast growing Apple Pay, which for just 5 months has completely changed the mobile payments industry. In one of the first press conferences of Apple for 2015 in early January, the CEO Tim Cook announced that 2 out of every 3$ that are being paid via smartphone are using Apple Pay. The inspiring and innovative CEO also pointed out to his strong belief that 2015 will be “the year of Apple Pay.”