Google Wallet Now Bribing Shoppers To Join

If you can download Google Wallet and can somehow persuade enough friends—OK, if you’re trying to force them to use Google Wallet, maybe you better go for acquaintances and distant relatives from your spouse’s family—to do the same, you could pull in $100.

The deal is that people will get $5 for every customer they bring in, with a $100 ceiling. The first rule—trust me, there are plenty of rules here—is that you need to send your intended victim money. The good news is that there’s no limit on the amount of money you can send. It’s the act of actually sending the money to this person that is of Google-ish interest.

Now for those rules. The new user will have to set up a profile and both of you will need to verify your identity. Both of you must have U.S. addresses and you will need to have a Wallet balance beyond what you’re sending. Your referral has to be a new Google Wallet user as opposed to being a returning customer. This must be their first Google Wallet setup. And, as Google puts it, “This promotion will go on until the first 20,000 referrals or 11/30/2014, whichever comes first.”

Slashgear saw the move as a response to Apple Pay and perhaps an indication that Google Wallet is getting pathetic. “Google Wallet was, at one point, the hottest thing in mobile payment technology. You could pay for things using NFC, at least in theory. Poor support left it dormant, but the recent presence of Apple Pay is bringing it back to the mindset of users. Riding Apple Pay’s coattails, Google wants people to use Wallet; so much so, they’re paying you to find them new users,” Slashgear said.