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Google Wallet leak shows off new physical credit cards

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Re: Google Wallet leak shows off new physical credit cards

#21

I wonder how flexible you are in deciding what card you want their physical card to charge to? Do you log in and toggle the current card it's a proxy for? Or can you log in later that night and tell google wallet "charge that latte on the mastercard, charge that toy on the amex?". I'd be really excited if I could get one google card to replace some other cards, but one of the reasons I have multiple cards is to separ…

I would love some simple conditional programmability. One of my cards gets 5% back on a rotating set of categories. This month is gas and groceries. Another card gets 3% back year-round. A simple filter would be awesome.

Re: Google Wallet leak shows off new physical credit cards

#22

I wonder how flexible you are in deciding what card you want their physical card to charge to? Do you log in and toggle the current card it's a proxy for? Or can you log in later that night and tell google wallet "charge that latte on the mastercard, charge that toy on the amex?". I'd be really excited if I could get one google card to replace some other cards, but one of the reasons I have multiple cards is to separ…

I would love some simple conditional programmability. One of my cards gets 5% back on a rotating set of categories. This month is gas and groceries. Another card gets 3% back year-round. A simple filter would be awesome.

If they take any cues from voice, you should get your wish as far as simple filters. Of course, it would be great if you could script your payments in a way that really optimized your credit and rewards.

Re: Google Wallet leak shows off new physical credit cards

#23
post #4

Note to Google: If the world hears about your new secure payment system via a LEAK you're off to pretty bad start.

Uh, what? They have engineers architecting their payment system's security.

The screenshots are handled by possible interns, staff, anyone associated with the project, etc.

There's no reason why a leak would have anything to do with system security. That's absurd.

Re: Google Wallet leak shows off new physical credit cards

#24
post #10

Huh. So I'll have one credit card to carry around that will just pass through the charge to another card I'm carrying around, because none of this stuff is yet reliable enough to abandon my wallet entirely. Sorry for the abrasive skepticism here... it's part of being in the industry. But I see one of two scenarios playing out here: 1) Google becomes (buys/owns/works with/...) a proper Issuing Bank giving out real lin…

I got the impression this is a lot like that iPhone writeable card -- i.e., you load in all your cards and then you can choose which card your Google Card represents. Lets you ditch all your cards and Google gets you to use wallet (which means they can push you in to using it as an actual payment wallet). And by getting you using Google Wallet, it'll encourage NFC adoption.

That uses a mounted magstripe writer, doesn't it? Or does the card have some sort of integrated rewriting electronics? I can't find any technical specifications.

It seems more likely the card will act like a prepaid 'passthrough' card as in the existing system.

Re: Google Wallet leak shows off new physical credit cards

#25
post #10

Huh. So I'll have one credit card to carry around that will just pass through the charge to another card I'm carrying around, because none of this stuff is yet reliable enough to abandon my wallet entirely. Sorry for the abrasive skepticism here... it's part of being in the industry. But I see one of two scenarios playing out here: 1) Google becomes (buys/owns/works with/...) a proper Issuing Bank giving out real lin…

I got the impression this is a lot like that iPhone writeable card -- i.e., you load in all your cards and then you can choose which card your Google Card represents. Lets you ditch all your cards and Google gets you to use wallet (which means they can push you in to using it as an actual payment wallet). And by getting you using Google Wallet, it'll encourage NFC adoption.

This is basically exactly what Google Wallet does as of a week or two ago..

Re: Google Wallet leak shows off new physical credit cards

#26
post #10

Huh. So I'll have one credit card to carry around that will just pass through the charge to another card I'm carrying around, because none of this stuff is yet reliable enough to abandon my wallet entirely. Sorry for the abrasive skepticism here... it's part of being in the industry. But I see one of two scenarios playing out here: 1) Google becomes (buys/owns/works with/...) a proper Issuing Bank giving out real lin…

>So I'll have one credit card to carry around that will just pass through the charge to another card I'm carrying around, because none of this stuff is yet reliable enough to abandon my wallet entirely.

Or maybe it has to do with a completely backward aged industry that uses an insecure standard? There are NFC readers all over here and they're all disabled because the implementation on plastic cards is shit and insecure so they turn the whole reader off. This prohibits something like the Nexus 4 from being able to auth payments which could easily be done in a manner far more secure.

The sad thing is, Google is so far ahead that no one else is close enough to be compatible so this is the shim they have to implement.

This comment is so incredibly pessimistic, I'd hate to have this attitude towards something new that is challenged by virtue of its newness.

Re: Google Wallet leak shows off new physical credit cards

#27
post #12
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like they deployed a version that broke the app on Nexus S. The remaining one stars are users complaining about lack of support on various android phones. So looks like people are really interested in using it but can't get proper access to it, those than can do like it,

So: 1) A software update can now render you unable to make payments. 2) You're only able to pay people if you've bought one of a few specific pieces of hardware. Traditional payment cards suffer neither of these problems which is probably why Google's planning to offer this... but overall it sounds like this is just adding more complexity into the already mindlessly-complex payments infrastructure.

So we know who the anti-Google-at-all-costs is in this particular thread. Why don't you stop spreading misinformation about it when you clearly don't understand the current Wallet offering or the vision for it?

Re: Google Wallet leak shows off new physical credit cards

#28
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would love some simple conditional programmability. One of my cards gets 5% back on a rotating set of categories. This month is gas and groceries. Another card gets 3% back year-round. A simple filter would be awesome.

If they take any cues from voice, you should get your wish as far as simple filters. Of course, it would be great if you could script your payments in a way that really optimized your credit and rewards.

A bit off topic, but if you are interested in maximizing rewards, check out http://www.walla.by/ (I have no connection).

Re: Google Wallet leak shows off new physical credit cards

#29
A way for Google to add value would be to distribute transactions efficiently/optimally among my existing accounts. If they know the terms, promotions and limits on my various cards and bank accounts then they can figure out that a particular transaction is most advantageous to me if it goes against Card A since it gets me a lower rate or a cash back or I have more head-room. Looking at transactions over time Google can predict and optimize how my spending gets allocated. I think I'd like that if it was done well.
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