Google, Apple and NFC: The PYMNTS Community Weighs In

Last month, Google made headlines when it announced its plans for One Pass, a program to help publishers monetize content that’s quite similar to Apple’s own new subscription service.  Now, Google has indicated that it will move forward with NFC mobile payment testing after Apple announced it will enable their iPhones and iPads with NFC functionality.

With these ventures, is Google searching for trouble? Have they bitten off more [of the Apple] than they can chew? MPD CEO Karen Webster has been covering and commenting on all of the announcements. Now, it’s the PYMNTS.com community’s turn to sound off. Check out some of the responses our readers have shared thus far and feel free to add your own thoughts below.

On Google Takes on NFC, Will They Crack the Code:

“Thinking of other “non-payment industry types” getting into the little-known, uber-complicated world of accepting payments, like Google, Square, Apple, and Facebook… From a product marketing perspective, these brands all have strong, emotional connections to the desired demographic of mobile payment adopters. Therefore, they should be considered serious competitors to others in the industry who have years of experience in payments.

Because so many, if not most, payment industry brands are largely unknown to consumers and have no GenY brand allegiance or recognition comparable to the social media brands; it’s possible Google as an example, could grab market share from another company who has years of experience in the payments industry, and a better NFC or mobile product.” – Dana Barciz

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“I was telling my customer that someone was going to take NFC to the next level. Look who it is: Google. Well, someone over there is seeing dollars signs all over with this one. I think by the end of the year that we will have the service on our phones.” – Walter Whitley

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“It seems to me that the MCom sector has, over the past two weeks, actually started to extensively renovate the ecosystem with a number of offerings [pilots?]. I believe that the fragmentation across the global landscape will continue near and medium term [2013] due in part to the ramp necessary for merchant POS participation. I still am adamant that a MIMO POS will be the final form factor appliance [tablet POS anyone?]

The activity nonetheless is a positive development and very necessary for mCommerce evolution in the physical world.” – Chas. Malloy

On Google Takes a Bite of the Apple:

“Great article. Magazines and newspapers on tablets and mobile devices is definitely the future of subscription media. It will be interesting to see how the content evolves and adapts. Will magazines and newspapers on these types of devices start to become more interactive?? I think so…” – Electronic Payments Network

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“I like this analysis. One question, though: Couldn’t part of the strategy on Google’s part be enlisting the merchants to induce the customers to sign up for Google Checkout? I confess I don’t know enough about how people use these services to know if this makes sense (is there much multi-homing?), but it seems like Google has just handed merchants 20% of revenue with which to convince customers to use Google Checkout… Moreover, the customer who is in the process of buying something can easily be made aware of–and will have an immediate incentive to investigate and invest time in–Google Checkout. The same cannot as easily be said for customers made aware of Google Checkout through other channels (advertising?), I would think.” – Geoff Manne

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“There’s another angle to this that should not be ignored: If iTunes/Apple can offer merchants access to 160 million account holders, and merchants believe that the payment of a 30% fee is worth the additional sales this access may generate, then a 1.5% fee for access to bank cardholders should feel like an incredible deal to merchants. Oh, but wait… that’s interchange.” – David Dove