Apple’s iPhone 5S has a fingerprint scanner, and now Samsung’s revealed a print-reading Galaxy S5. Each allows for payments to be verified using a swipe of your digits. Is this the possible future of all transactions? Perhaps, and Visa is now exploring the area too to ensure it will be ready for the possible sea-change.
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A prepaid gift card may not be the proper substitute for a well-chosen present, but at least the beneficiary will have an easier time using it online this Christmas. That’s because PayPal now supports such cards, meaning they can be used at any online emporium signed on to its Checkout platform — and that’s quite a few, we’re told. PayPal says prepaid cards with no associated billing address sometimes create problems when that part of the payment form pops up, which its new service avoids (on PayPal-friendly sites, anyway). Maybe you can just persuade your Grandparents to send their gift via bank transfer and keep it digital in the first place. It’s the money thought that counts, after all.
Filed under: Internet
Via: TechCrunch
Source: PayPal
You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past seven days — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Filed under: Misc
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Hey iPhone users, Google Wallet is here! The payments app has finally arrived for iOS devices, bringing with it transfers to friends, loyalty card tracking and nearby offers. Tap-to-pay is notably absent, as iOS devices don’t support NFC, but much of the other Wallet functionality does appear to have made its way to the App Store. As for security, you can keep things locked up using a PIN, and if you lose your phone or tablet, the app can be disabled remotely via Google’s site. Google Wallet for iOS, version 2.0.10206, is available today for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices running iOS 6.0 or better.
Filed under: Software, Mobile, Google
Source: Google Wallet (App Store)
Android users, this is where you unashamedly stick your tongue out at iOS loyalists while making childish noises with your lips. (In your fantasies, at least — that’s pretty rude to do in real life.) The Google Wallet app for Android has just been revised, with users in the United States told to expect it in phases throughout the week. One of the biggest additions is the ability to send cash on the go to any adult in the US with an email address — as is the case in Gmail, sending money directly from one’s bank or one’s Wallet account is free, while the usual fees apply if you’re dinging that credit card. Plus, if you’re still waiting for the option to send money in Gmail, just using this app once will automatically enable that.
Moreover, the app is doing its darndest to replace Key Ring, allowing individuals to load loyalty cards of all types directly into the app. In theory, this should cut down on how much plastic you have to carry around, but we’ve still seen stores that have a heck of a time scanning a digital rewards card. If you’re into saving money, Wallet now holds offers from Maps, Google Search, Google+ and Google Offers, and we get the impression that the company will be allying with a number of merchants in the near future in order to make this particular tidbit more attractive. Head on over to the Google Play Store to see if the new build is showing up for you.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Google
Source: Google Commerce, Google Play Store
PayPal’s stuck another clever little location-aware payment option into its smartphone app, with the Beacon tool letting users pay for items without even having to sigh and pull a mobile out of a pocket.
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If you enjoy playing games or watching movies on your PS3 or other Sony device, you may be interested to hear that Sony has added a fourth option for adding funds to your PlayStation Store digital wallet. Previously the only options were credit card, prepaid gift card, or PayPal. Now you can charge digital content to your mobile phone bill.
That means using your mobile phone and SMS text messages you can purchase additional items such as games, DLC, movies, and TV shows. You can even charge monthly Music Unlimited subscriptions to your phone bill. Sony says that adding funds to your digital wallet from your phone bill will require the user to reply to an SMS text message and text messaging rates will apply.
All charges will be placed on your mobile phone bill in the next payment cycle. Apparently, some prepaid mobile phone services will also support this payment type. This sounds weird until you think about the fact that some people may not want to trust Sony with their credit card information and a lot of people don’t have PayPal accounts.
We’ve had the chance to rent movies and otherwise purchase content through Facebook; wouldn’t it make sense if we could sign in to Facebook to buy goods elsewhere? The social network certainly thinks so, as it just confirmed to AllThingsD that it will be trialing a mobile payment system in about a month. The service is reportedly very PayPal-like — Facebook users with credit cards on file would just have to log in to make purchases inside of a mobile app. Only the flash sale outlet JackThreads is participating in the test at this stage, and there’s no mention of when the trial period expires. However, a full-fledged launch is potentially a major advantage for the House That Zuck Built. The payment system would give Facebook both a larger foothold in e-commerce and more insight into what members are willing to buy from advertisers.
Update: Our colleagues at TechCrunch have shed a little more light on the subject. They claim that the payment system is more of a complement to existing services than a competitor: it would only fill out the forms for another payment provider, including PayPal. Facebook reportedly sees this more as an extension of its advertising system, as it would both speed up sales and let marketers know when their ads are effective.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Facebook
Source: AllThingsD
Samsung’s Wallet app, launched in Beta in the US a few months ago, is now available for wider consumption on Google Play in the US. Despite the name, it doesn’t have Google Wallet-like powers of NFC payment, but works more like Apple’s Passbook app to let you store and categorize tickets, membership cards, coupons and the like. Other functions include time and location-based ticket reminders, a “create my ticket” feature and the ability to receive co-marketing and loyalty card coupons. As you may expect, it’s limited to Samsung devices, and for now the app only runs on the Galaxies S III, S 4, Note and Note II. You may also have trouble finding retailers accepting it, though Samsung said at launch that it would be supported by Walgreens, MLB, Expedia.com, Booking.com, Hotels.com and Lufthansa in the US. If the stars line up and you need something from one of those outfits, are in the US and have the right device, check the source.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung
Via: Sammy Hub
Source: Google Play
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