Google Wallet leak shows off new physical credit cards • Hacker News Board

Re: Google Wallet leak shows off new physical credit cards

#41

Post by Firehed » Fri, Nov 02, 2012, 7:22 AM UTC

drivebyacct2 wrote: post #26

Firehed wrote: 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 insec…

Having written code to interface with the IBM mainframes that power the credit networks... yes, I'm pessimistic about this. I absolutely welcome any improvement in the payment card space (especially around authentication and security in general) but so long as they're going over the existing networks at any point, that's going to be the weak link in the chain.

Simply put, it's a really bad chicken-and-egg problem. But offering a traditional payment card to bridge the gap does nothing to improve retailer adoption of the necessary tech to really move things forward.

Unless google is going to provide (and replace) that hardware, it's unlikely to happen. And if they do, they basically have to declare war on Visa et al due to the PCI requirements around POS hardware - they're not going to certify hardware that can be used to eventually bypass them, and merchants won't risk using uncertified hardware because they'll get shut off by their acquiring bank.

Re: Google Wallet leak shows off new physical credit cards

#42

Post by drivebyacct2 » Fri, Nov 02, 2012, 7:26 AM UTC

Firehed wrote: post #40

drivebyacct2 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

I'm not anti-Google, I just don't see how their product adds value to the equation in any payment scenario. I use and like a lot of their offerings. But I'm in the payments industry, know what can and does go wrong, and would never touch an offering from a company notorious for being so hard to get in touch with (unless you're giving them tens of thousands of dollars in Adwords revenue; even with our paid apps accoun…

>would never touch an offering from a company notorious for being so hard to get in touch with

I find that to be a very reasonable cause of concern.

Re: Google Wallet leak shows off new physical credit cards

#43

Post by drivebyacct2 » Fri, Nov 02, 2012, 7:29 AM UTC

Firehed wrote: post #41

drivebyacct2 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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 insec…

Having written code to interface with the IBM mainframes that power the credit networks... yes, I'm pessimistic about this. I absolutely welcome any improvement in the payment card space (especially around authentication and security in general) but so long as they're going over the existing networks at any point, that's going to be the weak link in the chain. Simply put, it's a really bad chicken-and-egg problem. Bu…

>Unless google is going to provide (and replace) that hardware

Mm, I had thought about the same thing. They could too, they could have some secure NFC smartcard and a contactful NFC card and use PKI and on and on, if you work in this area I'm sure my ideas pale in comparison to what you work with or can imagine.

I think they have to declare war on VISA. VISA doesn't seem to really give a shit to bother improving and it's probably in their best interest to keep everyone hooked on their physical infrastructure. If your phone becomes the focal point of the POS system, then I would imagine payment processor competition would be encouraged. I'm more or less just yammering now though, sorry.

Re: Google Wallet leak shows off new physical credit cards

#44

Post by drivebyacct2 » Fri, Nov 02, 2012, 7:30 AM UTC

sounders wrote: post #39

jessriedel wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does Google forward the charge to Amex, or does the Google Wallet Apps just simulate the Amex card's NFC signal, so that the merchant can't tell the difference? If the latter, you obviously deal with Amex

Google creates a onetime virtual card number that it sends to the merchant and that the merchant can process. The onetime card number never changes for that transaction, so a chargeback and return can always be processed for that order. I'm sure Google plays a part in the chargeback process due to the fact it acquired TxVia in April. http://support.google.com/wallet/bin/answer.py?hl=en&ans... In regards to reward poi…

I don't think that's accurate as of a week or two ago.

Er, actually, I think that's just for online purchases. Google Wallet in the past has used a Masterpaid prepaid card for NFC transactions and my understanding was that the recent update causes a more direct credit card emulation as it will allow to use any sort of VISA/whatever.