

The physical Google Wallet card will work just like a regular credit card. Whatever your currently selected default card on the Wallet app is, the Wallet card will charge to. It will work anywhere major credit cards are accepted. This is for those scenarios where you don't have (or want to use) tap and pay. Imagine leaving all your credit cards at home from now on, and just carrying one, and your phone. Sure, it's not the magical future of using your phone to pay everywhere with a painless tap (let's face it, tap payments are rarely painless anyway), but this is awesome nonetheless.

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And you can get this card straight through the app, sent to your house, as our anonymous tipster did (he even got a confirmation email):

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I've got to say, this is pretty awesome. We knew Google was going to announce something big for Wallet soon (there's even a sign up page), but we had no idea a physical card was in the works.

This is only part of the story, though. Other awesome new features are coming to Wallet as well. The ability to deposit and withdraw money to and from a "Wallet Balance" is being added (hopefully, this will integrate with the Play Store), as well as person to person money transfers. Transit cards? Wallet's got transit cards.

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Wow. This is a lot to soak up. Wallet's shaping up to be a major contender in the mobile payment world yet again, and we couldn't be more excited. And no, unfortunately, we don't know anything about availability outside of the US.

The other important implication? The physical Wallet card could make carrier approval for Wallet a thing of the past unless you want to use tap payments. Google could publish a version of the Wallet app without NFC permissions that just allows you to switch between your cards, that could be installed on any phone (even iOS or Windows Phone, theoretically), and you just use the Wallet card for payments. That's pretty cool. And could seriously reduce the chance of rival mobile payment systems of catching on. Google really does seem to have thrown a wrench in the works of the likes of ISIS and other competing systems.

Thanks, Anon!

David Ruddock

  • Neil Lund

    I hope it's a black card. I like black credit cards :-)

    • Freak4Dell

      If it's a black card, I'm getting it just for the color.

      • Justin W

        I hope it looks exactly like the picture above with no VISA/MC logos. That would be pimpin, but not likely. I can dream, can't I?

        • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1501675804 Jake Lee

          Well, surely there's no reason they need those logos, since it's more of a proxy card than Visa / MC?

          • loopyduck

            It would have to work on a company's payment network, though. My guess is MasterCard since they've been working with them the whole time.

          • Ryan
          • paul

            do u get cash back options and can you access ATM for cash??

          • pwsfinest

            What is this thing you call cash?

          • Chippedbeef

            MC is in the terms you agree to at GooglePlay when you purchase an app. Do we have to use GW?

          • http://www.facebook.com/itsdimitri.r Dimitri Allen Ramirez

            Discover is performing the service

        • Frank Pilone

          They will have to have a logo for the card user. If it uses Mastercard, and Mastercard isn't accepted at the store, the transaction will fail. This reminds that it will use Mastercard. A more interesting perspective is to have both Mastercard and VISA. Of course, on Google's end the transactions will come from any card in the wallet no matter the payment system.

          • Mat_t

            Absolutely not. Why do they have to use Visa or Mastercard? Those are card standards - they are not required. It's entirely possible they could use neither while ensuring the card works via both.

          • Freak4Dell

            If you don't use one of the standards, you have to get each and every merchant account manager to support your new payment network. That's harder and more costly than getting stores to upgrade to terminals with NFC.

            They could make it work via both (with one of them being preferred and the other as a backup, since everybody and their mom accepts at least one of the two) and leave the logos off, which is what I hope they do. Or maybe they'll put the logos on the back.

        • http://www.facebook.com/itsdimitri.r Dimitri Allen Ramirez

          It's all black no logos! Just google!

        • James

          The card will run on Discover rails, which means it will work at around 90% of merchants as of late. It remains to be seen if the card will have a Discover logo. My guess is no.

          Google sits in the middle. To be clear - Google pays the merchant, and you pay Google in an entirely different transaction. They eat the difference in fees as they are interested in your data.

          Wallet will not work at an ATM as the card is basically a rechargeable gift-card.

          Disputes would be handled directly with Google.

          For more info on the new Google card than you probably want to know, check out: http://proteanpayment.org/?p=451

          Let me know if you have any questions, I work in the payments industry

    • Erik Cho

      The example picture with the black card and only the Google Wallet icon in color is pretty sick.


        Choice of background colours, calling it right now.

    • Kenny O

      Even better if its titanium

    • fixxmyhead

      yea it just screams BADASS

      • Jonathan Wong

        And classy and rich,

    • Havoc70

      Now if we can add our own images to the card that would be nice

    • Cherokee4Life

      They make a very valid point. This means you could "use" Google Wallet on a phone without NFC..

      • http://twitter.com/calebkester Caleb Kester

        Agreed, best part of it.

      • La Parca

        When i send the email for the new google wallet they let me choose btween: Android - iPhone and Others... so no NFC, maybe also QR Codes or embed html buttons.

        • tookieboy

          so you're the tipster?

    • Go Hawkeyes

      NO! I have a black credit card (Alaska Airlines Signature Visa) and people are always amazed when they see a black card. I don't want Google flooding the market with other black cards making them accessible to the common folk.

      Note: That last part was sarcasm as anyone with mildly decent credit can get the Alaska Airlines Signature Visa. Still, black cards are rare.

      • Freak4Dell

        It'd be badass they made it heavy like the real black cards. I wonder if AmEx has some sort of patent on that.

        • chuckles87

          apple does they have a patent on black rectangle with rounded corners

      • loopyduck

        My OG Starbucks Card is black =P

  • Danny Holyoake

    "Wallet's shaping up to be a major contender in the mobile payment world yet again"

    Not until it's available in more than one country it won't!

  • Julio M

    Shut up and take my money. But first bring me a card so I can throw it on my screen.

  • WalCs

    I welcome our Google overlords.

    • http://www.facebook.com/duckofdeath Hans Pedersen

      I, for one, welcome our new Google overlords...

      • Eric Miller

        As opposed to our "old" Google overlords ...

        • dubqnp

          Altavista and yahoo

          • Eric Miller


    • Kenny O

      I concur

    • tbonefsg

      How long does it take to get the email after you sign up? when is the wallet update coming out officially?


        Nobody knows. "Soon" is the best you'll get.

        • tbonefsg

          I asked because the tipster has already received the confirmation email saying the card is on its way. I want one now!

          • goalcam

            The tipster is using an internal beta or something of the Wallet apk. While you can sign up now on the Google Wallet website to be notified of the new version, you can't sign up for the card yet.

  • http://kennydude.me/ Joe Simpson

    I hope it arrives to the UK (or at least part of it). Other than that, this could be why Google discontinued the Google Play credit, to integrate it (like Google should)


      Oyster + Cards + Tesco card in one. Okay, the last one was unrealistic, unless you physically stick the barcode onto a Wallet card. Ho-hum.

      • http://kennydude.me/ Joe Simpson

        Oh how I wish we have oyster cards in the north :(

  • Keith Myers

    WOW, talk about a bombshell, Can you advise if it was signed with Google's Production Signing Keys or a test signing key. This could help to get an indication on when it may launch.

    It would also be sweet if we can dump our PayPal funds into Google's wallet

    • Freak4Dell

      If there was integration for PayPal members to send money to a Google Wallet account, I'd dump PayPal and never look back. I doubt it will ever be that easy, though.

      • jm9843

        Isn't there a PayPal debit card that you could add to your Google Wallet account? Then people could still send payments to you at PayPal if they prefer but you'd have access to the funds via Wallet.

        • Freak4Dell

          Hmm...you may be right. I'll have to look into that. But, it's not really where the funds sit that bothers me. It's the fact that PayPal's CS sucks, and I also really don't like supporting a company that has such a tight relationship with eBay. eBay has become horrible recently.

          • jm9843

            eBay owns PayPal. It doesn't get any tighter than that!

        • John O’Connor

          I have a paypal card, and it is attached to my Google wallet, along with my personal credit cards, bank cards and business credit and debit cards. I certainly welcome ability to leave all but one card at home since most places do not accept NFC payments as it is. It certainly would be nice if you could specify how to use a card though.

          Places like Costco only take debit cards or amex, so it would be best if this new Wallet card can process a transaction as either a debit or credit since debit/check cards can be used either way. Also some gas stations charge higher rates for credit card transactions, so adding that choice will really stomp the competition. Then and only then can you travel with one and only one (wallet) card!

          • http://www.facebook.com/RyanDeanWinkler Ryan Winkler

            Good point! I didnt even think about the debit card aspect. Hopefully they have something up their sleeves for that.

  • MikeCiggy

    Soooooo cool! Must have now.

  • http://www.anivision.org/ Christopher Bailey (Xcom923)

    OMG!!!! >_<

  • RedPandaAlex

    Hmm. I wonder if there will be a way to set up rules for which account the card should use. For example, my grocery store only takes debit, but for everything else, I want it to use credit. It would be nice if I could just pay for everything with one card.

    • Velmeran

      The way I'm taking it (based on the card and phone comment) was that whatever card you has as the active/primary at the given time is what would be used.

      So if you wanted to use your debit at the grocery store you would switch that to the primary; and then switch the primary back to your CC after.

      Though just general rules like At "X" use Acct 1; At "Y" use Acct 2, etc. would be great.

      • http://twitter.com/iJip Jean-Pierre Quesnel

        hmm why cant they just make it so that you pick the card, after the transaction!! like maybe they give you 24-48 hours to pick where you want your trancstions to be deducted otherwise it defaults to you primary account -=)

        • http://www.facebook.com/RyanDeanWinkler Ryan Winkler

          that would involve them being liable for any insufficient funds people might run into. Some cards just flat out refuse to run if they dont have the money, instead of overcharging the account

          • James

            Disputes would have to be taken up with Google.

        • James

          Paypal does offer the delayed payment: http://goo.gl/GJbGG

    • jm9843

      You would go into the Wallet app on your phone and select the default card that you want to use. Swiping the physical card uses the default card you've selected. The idea is that you could change the default card used (by either an NFC tap or swiping the physical card) from the Google Wallet app on your phone.

      This is how it'll work with non-NFC phones (e.g. iPhone).

      • RedPandaAlex

        Yeah, but some automation would be nice. Otherwise, that's more laborious than just carrying around the extra card, which I wouldn't want to do since Wallet provides an extra layer of security.

        • jm9843

          I have something like 5 cards in my wallet right now that will be reduced to only having to carry a single Google Wallet card. I don't consider it a laborious process, but it'd still be worth it just to simplify/added security.

          Regarding what you said - it's impossible to automate it. You have to have a way to communicate to Google's cloud what "real" card to use (i.e. your default card). The way that you do that is via the Wallet app. The terminal that you swipe the physical card at processes it as if were, presumably, a regular MasterCard. MasterCard and Google do the work on the backend at that point to debit the correct card based on what you've selected as "default."

          • Freak4Dell

            It's not impossible. Google could simply set up a program to debit a certain card based on the merchant or type of purchase. Purchases are already categorized by nearly every credit card issuer out there. They already know that if you make a purchase at Chevron, it's a gas purchase (well, other than those times you're just buying chips and soda). This is done for research purposes, cashback purposes, etc. It's not a hard task. All Google would need to do is set up these categories (or even a list of merchants, though that would be more tedious), and link them to the cards that the user wants.

            A company called Wallaby does exactly this, for the purpose of maximizing cashback incentives.

          • jm9843

            This is a good point and I'd love to see it happen. The only problem with automating purchasing like you describe is that it isn't explicit. Google may want to avoid going down that path as it's giving the user a lot of rope to hang themselves.

          • LazarusDark

            Yeah, inevitably someones going to want to pay with thier default, but Google switches to another card based on the rules they set up. The person wasn't thinking about that and then they are getting overdraft charges on the other card cause they forgot it would automatically switch to that card. Its better to make people have one default and know that they must switch manually if they want another card.
            People are going to get confused enough as it is. Actually, the more I think about it, this card is not a good idea for the average moron...

          • http://www.facebook.com/RyanDeanWinkler Ryan Winkler

            Impossible to automate it? They could easily implement something. For instance, you look at your buying history, then each line would have the option to choose to use a particular card in the future for that transaction. Any transaction with the same details as the one you chose (or would fit in custom parameters... think how you view certain variables in google analytics).

            Easily attainable. I could definitely see getting people on board for this. "One card to rule them all"

    • QuanahHarjo

      Perhaps, if Wallaby can do it Google should be able to as well. If they can't...maybe Wallet can be made GPS aware. Then you could have your phone change the default based on your physical location.

    • James

      Check out Echo: getprotean.com works on the front end vs. back end like Wallaby/Google

  • Usama Ahmad

    Not what I was expecting at all, but the idea of carrying one card is nice. Can't wait until we have more information on how exactly this would work.

  • European

    There are more than 190+ other countries in the world, just so you know...

    • http://k3rnel.net Juan Rodriguez

      Baby steps... One country at a time dude.

      • http://twitter.com/TheGermian Roberto Giunta

        Yepp, printing codes on a card of paper is so hard to do either that it's not yet available world wide, eh?

    • esper256

      There are also 190+ sets of laws and compliance regulations to deal with in order to launch in those markets as well. Everyone always posts like somehow Google *wants* to not launch globally. As if it were as simple as removing some countries' IPs from a blacklist and ta-daa global launch. It is not.

      • ChrisLH

        This is a great post...I understand people's frustrations with Google (and Amazon) regarding availability in other countries, but its not as easy as just launching a product in another country.

  • Gav456

    Yup, I want one of those! =D

  • Brian Inglut

    This is a very smart move. Can't get away from cards? Use one card for all why hasn't this been thought of already? I think its a great idea

    • Freak4Dell

      There's a company called Wallaby that does this already. They obviously haven't caught on very big. I think they allow you to set up rules for which purchases go to which source, too.

      • James

        Wallaby hasn't launched yet, but they have garnered a lot of interest!
        Protean also is launching with a front end one-card solution: http://www.getprotean.com

  • http://twitter.com/sbatwater Sebastian Atwater

    If this accepts/replaces my Chicago Card, I'm in!

    • RedPandaAlex

      do want

    • Nicholas Wallace IV

      it will by that time.....the chicago cards are going away i think they will be called ventra cards soon

  • Nick Bieter

    I don't see it yet... I want my google credit card please!

  • RedPandaAlex

    By the way, a lot of people forget that one of Wallet's main reasons for being was to let customers combine loyalty cards and payment into a single tap, instead of having to have separate cards for cvs, walgreens, the hair cuttery, the grocery store, etc in your wallet. Adding a physical card will enable more retailers to actually USE that integration without having to upgrade to paypass.

    • JordanMcRae

      Good point...hopefully they will be announcing more reward partners along with this.

    • CoffeeZombie

      Okay, *that* might be a good reason to bother getting this card...if some of my local stores actually start doing reward cards this way. Otherwise, I just don't see any reason to use a Google Wallet card instead of the one credit card I currently use.


        At the very least, security. As soon as your card is lost, log into any PC, and disable it. You could still use your credit card, and just order a replacement Wallet card.

        Not to mention combining various loyalty cards etc into that one card.

        • CoffeeZombie

          Wow! For someone that only has one card, it's a huge hassle if it gets lost! That is an awesome point, and that, alone, would make having a this Wallet card a good idea.

        • ZacharyHearns

          Except if your card gets cloned. This has happened to me twice now. I can report it to my bank and get reimbursed. What happens if I use this card? My credit card wasn't cloned, my google card was. Will google replace it? Would I have to try and get reimbursed through my bank or through google? This thing creates as many security issues as it solves.

          • James

            You would have to settle any dispute with Google. The way this works is that Google sits in the middle. To be clear - Google pays the merchant, and you pay Google in an entirely different transaction. They eat the difference in fees as they are interested in your data. I recently witnessed a Google exec. state that they view this as a $500 Billion opportunity. They know what they advertise, now they have a chance to see what you purchase, closing the lead generation loop. If you're interested in a behind the scenes look at Wallet 2.0: http://proteanpayment.org/?p=451

          • ZacharyHearns

            Honestly, I would be impressed if Google was able to implement some type of voluntary two step authorization within this model, a simple example would be after swiping your card, an "accept payment" request comes up on your phone. I'm not sure why, but it would be deeply satisfying to see a payment I didn't authorize come up on my phone and deny it, knowing some thief just got rejected at the cashier.

  • http://about.me/helloericho Eric Ho

    This is going to be huge for Google Wallet adoption - especially when Google start tying up the Wallet activation process to Android activation - very exciting news!

  • Ben Baggley

    SO sick of US only

    • http://twitter.com/brandonb927 Brandon Brown

      I want them to take my pretty Canadian money but they won't :(

      • http://twitter.com/GarettRogers Garett Rogers

        yes, please take my canadian dollars too...

    • http://twitter.com/ElooieIV Edward Lewis

      Move. Easy solution.

      • Ben Baggley

        Um, no thanks.

    • James

      No chip and pin for Google card, that's for sure...

  • lensgrabber


  • Gav456

    I hope eBay adds integration for this, maybe then I can buy stuff as PayPal refuse to link to my bank account

  • Cody Lusk

    Hope I can link my Presto transit card to this! The NFC reader on my phone already picks it up.

  • theentropic

    So does this mean they will have split out the code for wallet in such a way that they can allow the app on VZW, but block the "NFC Payment" portion of it? Or will it just be blocked on VZW no matter what?

  • ArberBeq

    This would be epic for public transit.

  • riktking

    Shut up and take my British pounds! Grrrr


    This doesn't surprise me given the new iOS Wallet support that's coming up, but it's awesome nonetheless. NFC simply isn't taking off at a quick enough pace. It sucks as far as losing out on credit card rewards, but it is really what Wallet should've been to begin with.

    • theentropic

      How are you losing out on credit card rewards? You choose the default card the Wallet Card will charge to, so just set your rewards card to the default one. From what the article says, Google isn't issuing a line of credit... it's just consolidating all your lines of credit onto a "pick-able" card managed by an app.


        It screws up the categories. My Amex gets 3% back at gas stations. If I use Google Wallet instead of the actual card, that becomes 1% as it's charged as Google Wallet as the merchant as opposed to Shell.

        • http://www.facebook.com/RyanDeanWinkler Ryan Winkler

          I'm hoping google figures out a way to spoof categories soon to avoid this problem... or at least get some cards/banks on board supporting rewards

  • hamblindave

    This reminds me of the call-forwarding capabilities of Google Voice. Instead of one number to ring any/all of your phones, this is one credit card to forward the charge to any of your other cards. Hopefully this can circumvent those merchants who only accept one type of card, etc.

    • RusselNash

      It would be neat if you could charge certain cards for certain merchants automatically. That would truly make it the Wallet equivalent of Voice.

  • Freak4Dell

    It's a cool idea, and I guess it's really the only good solution they could come up with to make this work for people who don't have NFC or people who are on retarded carriers. It will be kind of a PITA to pull out your phone and change sources all the time if you use different cards for different things like I do (and if you don't, you're only carrying one card in the first place).

    I'm definitely excited for the Wallet Balance and the person-to-person transfers. I've been ready to dump PayPal for a while, or at least give it as minimal a role in my life as I possibly can.

    • jm9843

      It's also, obviously, the solution to merchants who don't have PayPass terminals.

    • Alex

      +1 for that last little bit.


      Perhaps there'll be an ability to setup rules for payments? E.g always pay at Walmart with this card, but pay at x with this card? One can dream.

      And yep, Paypal has had dominance over money transfers for far too long now. I'm just glad Google got in before Apple / MS.

      • http://twitter.com/punitvthakkar Punit Thakkar

        Just assuming here, but maybe one could use Tasker to enable individual cards as per location. That'd kick ass!!

      • LazarusDark

        That would be sweet. I typically use one card for gas, one card for groceries and one card for Lowe's

      • James

        Paypal announced an almost identical physical card before Google, it just didn't get publicized nearly as well. http://goo.gl/GJbGG

  • Kenny O

    This would be great for safety, if you loose your wallet now you cancel all you cards.....if you loose this card you just disable the account from your phone.


    It would be utterly amazing if i could also use this google card at an ATM but i dont think that will be possible.

  • endone

    Please patent this, Google. Just to keep Apple quiet.

  • jonathan3579

    I knew transit cards would come around when I one day sat my Galaxy Nexus on my wallet and it scanned my old Metro card and saved it as a tag.

  • Joshua Flowers

    All i have to wonder is this:
    Why doesn't the card have an NFC chip in it?
    scenario: leave your phone in your pocket, give this card to your wife to pay for something, don't have your phone with you, phone can't get a data signal.

    anyone else?

    • marcusmaximus04

      Data signal isn't required to pay with your phone. I pay with my Nexus 7 all the time with no signal.

      • TylerChappell

        This is correct, it stores the data of whichever card you currently have selected as your default on the device itself so that you can still make payments without a connection.

        • marcusmaximus04

          Actually, its not even that. They store a Google wallet id which is transferred to the pay station. That's why if you change your default card on, say, your phone and then use your tablet without having connected it to the internet in the meantime, it'll still charge the newly selected card

          • TylerChappell

            Thanks for the clarification!

  • Disqus Sucks

    Suck it Verizon. Suck it long, and suck it hard.

  • skitchbeatz

    I was hoping for manually adding loyalty cards and ticket integration.

  • Shawn

    As long as this works as advertised this would be great but if it is buggy ie(switch primary card but the previous is charged) then it is going to just piss ppl off

  • http://profiles.google.com/keith.geissler Keith Geissler

    If I need to pull out and swipe a card, why wouldn't I just pull out the credit card I want to use? With this method, I have to go to my phone and change the default card. This seems like more of a hassle.

    • storm14k

      You carry one card. You loose it and you can turn it off with your phone instantly. You loose your wallet with all your cards and you're calling for each account to have it shut down and reissued. I'll take switching cards on my phone any day.

    • http://www.anivision.org/ Christopher Bailey (Xcom923)

      well, with this you can change it long before you check out. this would actually save time. Also the idea is to only carry this card instead of this and all your other cards.

  • http://www.youtube.com/kimirPORTALS kimir

    Verizon, please let us have this. Just this once?

  • Brad Corcoran

    Please Canada... pleeeeeeaaaaase!

  • mattdonders

    Wow just wow. Go Google go!

  • Derrick Hodges

    I love it!

  • http://twitter.com/Vizualize a.d.AM

    Just send mine over now. I need that!

  • http://www.facebook.com/harrison.king.566790 Harrison King

    I think I'm detecting a slightly new aesthetic. I've seen the blue buttons used in other Google services, but not yet on Android (maybe I'm forgetting something thought). Hmmm...

  • http://twitter.com/psych2L Joseph Lee

    I love how Google is unfragmenting my entire wallet ;)

  • http://twitter.com/Jon_Iguana Jon Paterson

    Grrrrrrr so not fair all these cool things are not pushed out to the UK

  • Jesslyn Hendrix

    Thank goodness. Whether I use it or not, I hope that Google finds a way to circumvent every block to functionality that the carriers throw at Android devices. I am tired of the carriers trying to cockblock.

  • woj_tek

    "let's face it, tap payments are rarely painless anyway" say what? I've been using paypass for almost two years now without any problem... what's more - nowadays I tend to use it even more in contrast to regular payment (at worst I have to authorize transaction)... but well... I'm not in the US... yay

  • max

    can't wait

  • http://twitter.com/jordanlong20 Jordan Long

    what is the app version ?

  • Troy Leonard

    It would be awesome if the new app allows the receiving of payments to like square or paypal. I hate paypal. Square is ok but google would be better

  • John O’Connor

    well, someone has to do it.......


  • bloomtronzero

    I want it in Canada.

  • http://twitter.com/cabbieBot cabbieBot

    I love it! Can't wait to get one. And FYI, I didn't know this till I sent this link to someone I know who has a connection to Isis...apparently they have a physical card too: http://www.paywithisis.com/what-cards.xhtml

    • James

      Google, ISIS, Wallaby, Protean, Paypal. Cards are getting hot again!

  • Dion

    The Google Wallet app should have the ability to change the card being attached to the physical card based on GPS location.

  • srk

    wallet app not supported on galaxy tab ... what do i do?

    • Jon Garrett

      same thing Ive been doing, bitching and complaining. I have the 10.1 the Note and the SIII and NONE of them support wallet !! go figure.

      • John O’Connor

        This must be a carrier issue as my sgs3 has always worked with wallet. My gnote 10.1, unfortunately no.

        • Jon Garrett

          yes, its a carrier issue. AT&T disabled NFC on its devices. I hate that Google allows carriers to interfere so much yet those same carriers dare NOT tamper with apple products.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1307665002 Gabriel Garcia

    One ring, excuse me, CARD to rule them all!

  • Yianni Galiatsatos

    What is a Transit card?

    • Evostance

      Usually an NFC/RFID card that lets you put money on it. Then if you want to go on a bus, tube etc, you just walk up to the barrier, swipe your card and it lets you on & deducts the fare

      • Yianni Galiatsatos

        any transit 'authority' accepts this?

        • http://www.androidpolice.com/ Artem Russakovskii

          No, it's specific to each transit authority or a set of authorities if they worked together to set up compatibility.

  • http://twitter.com/cabbieBot cabbieBot

    Some more thoughts. This completely inverts the wallet model in a great way. Previously, the barrier to entry was that you needed a specific tech (nfc) on a type of phone (android) on a specific carrier (sprint or metropcs) to make Wallet really usable, and acts as a huge barrier to entry. What this does is makes it available to everyone...even if they don't have a smartphone. The reason I say that is because you can set up Google Wallet on a PC browser (which everyone has) then use the card (I know that the screenshots show you activate the GWC in the app but I'm reasoning that you'd be able to do it on the PC browser too). So, now, ANYONE can use google wallet. BUT, if you have an android smartphone (and theoretically, iOS or W7/8 phone), the service gets ENHANCED by giving you the convenience of switching payment cards while out and about. And then, if you have the smartphone with NFC, the service gets enhanced AGAIN by letting you pay with tap-to-pay. So, instead of locking everyone without who doesnt meet the very specific criteria (nfc on android on sprint/metropcs), what this does is let everyone use GW and lets each level of tech add to the service, instead. "I cant use Google Wallet because I don't have the right phone/carrier" becomes "I can use Google Wallet but the experience would be that much better if I had the right phone/carrier". Including everyone (in the US, sorry guys) in as potential users and then letting them know how much better it could be if they switched to an android phone is the right way to do it. Just like you can use Google Maps or Search on any device, but having an android makes it that much better and encourages switching. And given GW's troubled beginnings and hindsight being 20/20, it would have been a better first step then just rolling it out as they did which let the carriers stop it cold. That doesn't really matter now that it's here, though. The inner nerd and MBA in me gets excited as hell over genius moves like this.

  • Lawrence of Arabia

    nice but i would like some cash back

    • http://twitter.com/ryocoon Kurtis Whittington

      If you are using it connected to a card that gives cash-back, well there you go... cash back.

  • Aaron Saellam

    This would be double badass if the card itself also had nfc functionality.

    • Justin W

      My bet is they will have an NFC capable version. Why would the take a step back?

  • http://twitter.com/shane80002007 s

    i think this is a good move if it happens to replace the current debit card to a credit card because google could keep some of the transaction fee, also other users both who dont have access to google wallet either because they use a different OS like apples or isnt available on there device for whatever reason could still use the physical card and it gives google a brand so people can 'upgrade' to using a phone if they choose to, i also hope wallet becomes a core part of the OS and also do what they have done with calendar and also release a stand alone app, maybe they could offer 10% off google play apps as well to get people to sign up.

  • Ian Thomas

    Could be pretty awesome, hopefully it is =)

  • La Parca

    We need that apk RIGHT NOW! Show yourself Anon!

  • master94

    VZW no doubt working on a way to ban this.

  • donrhummy

    WOW. Google just threw the entire industry on its head. And they can even release a non-NFC app for iOS. Well, until Apple patents this and sues them for it.

  • Faust

    Not to rain on this concept, while its nice I can see it not lasting for too long for many reasons.

    That being the case however, when they stop making these the Google Wallet Cards could become a collectable of what once was.

  • GazaIan

    This is brilliant. It bridges the gap for those people who want to pay with their smartphone, but don't have the PayPass terminal in their store. On top of that, it could serve as a very awesome way to let us users without NFC use Google Wallet. If the card itself has NFC, that's a huge win.

  • http://www.twitter.com/DarkRyoushii Adrian Mace

    I hope it works with the failure of a transit system known as Myki down here in Victoria, Australia!

  • JG

    I'm kind of digging the whole idea of just carrying one physical card, but being able to tie it to any number of cards. If your wallet is lost or stolen, as soon as you notice, just log into your Google account, and change your default card to an empty pre-paid debit card. No need to worry about trying to remember every single card you might be carrying, calling the various banks, etc & getting them cancelled and being without means to easily access your money for a week or so while your new cards are prepared & sent to you...

  • http://www.facebook.com/marc.vlommel Marc Van Lommel

    Only in the US probably ..

  • ironmig

    Wow, seems awsome. I wonder if the card will have some functionality when touched to a phone. Like a freind could tap his phone to your card and give you money. Like holy shit, google can you make my babies? You already make everything else I use. Of course than apple would create the ibaby and claim they had patents way before google.

  • Yawn

    So Google is providing a substitute card for your credit card? Underwhelmed.

  • Dan

    Good news: it appears that the Google card will be released through Discover which means the front of the card can look just like the illustration. My Discover card looks like a cassette tape with no logos on the front other than the word "Discover" written where you would normally write the title of the music.

    Bad news: Discover is rejected at way too many places. If the Google card is processed through Discover, then this lovely dream: "Imagine leaving all your credit cards at home from now on, and just carrying one" is going to remain just a dream. Discover is my primary card and I have to dig out my Visa debit card at least twice a week because the store/bar/parkingmeter doesn't take Discover.

  • SuperB

    Google is after consumer spending data. They are willing to loose money on transactions in exchange for learning about your spending behavior. We are living in the era of big data.

    • http://twitter.com/2WYCE 2WYCE

      I don't care. I'd rather pay by telling google I buy paper plates once a month from family dollar than pay once a month. If I buy something I don't want google to know about, or any other card company that collects consumer spending data for that matter, I'll use cash. Simple solution.

  • scoobydoo

    apple sucks. iSuck!

  • booldozer

    i hope google DESTROYS Isis

  • raj

    this is good this is good this is good this is good this is good

  • http://twitter.com/PigeonFudge PigeonFudge

    I'm pretty interested to hear about the transit card. Sound Transit uses ORCA cards, which I know are NFC only because it makes my Nexus 7 beep at me when it's near :)

  • http://www.thesuperstar.org/ theSuperStar

    I lik e

  • redcore

    My condolences for the beta tester who gets tracked down after Google looks up who sent in a card request at 11:25 and accessed the app between 10 and 11:30 on an unsupported device :P

    • http://www.androidpolice.com/ Artem Russakovskii

      And does what to him? Absolutely nothing.

  • http://brandon.giesing.uni.me/ Brandon Giesing

    This wouldn't be useful for me unless they allow people below 18 use it (kind of like a Walmart Visa Gift-Card but you could reload it and control it from your phone.)

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003386080045 John doe

    All of a sudden iOS/iPhone is looking real old.

  • paul

    do u get cash back options and can you access and ATM for cash??

    • http://twitter.com/2WYCE 2WYCE

      That would be tight! My paypal MC already has cash back and is in my GWallet account. If GWallet card also offered cash back, that'd be two separate rewards with each purchase!

  • http://www.techflashed.com/ Tech Flashed

    images looks impressing.

  • John Hamelink

    It would be nice if the "tap" payment was included in the card anyway - that way you could convert non-tap cards into tap cards by linking them up to your google wallet card!

    • Freak4Dell

      I think the card will include a chip so that it will work with the PayPass systems. Google most likely wants people to get used to the action of tapping to pay, because if they do, then it's more likely that they'll be interested in "tapping" their phone to pay. The next time they buy a phone, they may look for that feature.

  • Disillusioned in California

    Dear Google,

    If you can prove to me that you care about not sharing my information, I will consider this latest project of yours. But you will need to do some serious convincing, because your track record with Gmail says more to me than all of your talk about consolidating privacy policies to "make the Google experience more simple and intuitive."

    Until you can prove yourself, I will most certainly not be letting you anywhere near my wallet.


    One of many disillusioned ex-Google serfs.

  • Jonathan

    Integrate bitcoins!!!!!

  • http://www.facebook.com/itsdimitri.r Dimitri Allen Ramirez

    I work at Denver Airport DIA I see the card like crazy. There out all ready!!

  • Robert

    Hi everyone, it may be interesting for you to know that Google is actually copying the concept that was already launched in the loyalty industry early 2012 by a company headquartered in Switzerland called Loylogic: PointsPay allows consumers to convert their points and miles of participating loyalty programs into cash by loading a virtual or plastic card via the iPhone or the web. Check it out at http://www.pointspay,com. Hopefully US rewards programs will be available on PointsPay in the near future too :-)

  • techlover!!!

    I must be more sure, but it looks promising

  • LiamBryant

    Just got the apk from http://pocketnow.com/2012/11/06/android-42-gapps...where in the app is this screen? I want to order a card!

  • Mike Loomis

    What is the status with this now that the Nexus 4 has officially launched? I can't find any mention of this on the app.

  • http://www.cardauthorizer.com/ Accept credit cards

    It'd be badass they made it heavy like the real black cards. I wonder if AmEx has some sort of patent on that.It's all black no logos!

  • http://googleplus.VoluntaryMan.com/ William Thieme

    Did he ever get the card though? lol

  • cliffy44

    WHEN can I get Google Wallet for my AT&T Note 2 and my AT&T GalaxyS3?

    "Soon" is NOT an acceptable reply. For once, try and give a "non-obama type" answer. In other words, please reply with an accurate answer.

  • Chris Johnson

    Google cancelled their own card service.
    Not that i give two shits as Google/Android refuse to recognise the billions of people that dont live in the United States and block a hell of a lot of useful function to god only knows how many users.
    Its getting stupid now.

  • pymenthound

    If you want a cool app and pre-funded plastic black card check out globalVCard.com - the globalVCard mobile app lets you send money and pay with your phone or card

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    best credit repair companies

  • almost ruined

    i could tell you all a horror story I will not ever touch google wallet again. I almost lost 5000.00 in in app purchases that were from my understanding billed 9 months after they were processed to get this through my bank the date was changed and the vendor. (found this out from a wallet rep) I have 1000 invoices that were never authorized and my google activity shows 109 transactions for the life of the account. The bank canceled the original transactions so the date an merchant were changed! How do you like those apples and as I stated I have proof in writing from a google rep! Be aware! Google did it!