US mobile operator Verizon may have asked Google not to include its Google Wallet payment platform on the Galaxy Nexus but the company has said it could allow the service in the future if it is able to ensure it has achieved the “best security and user experience”.
Bloomberg spoke with Verizon, publishing the following comment:
Verizon Wireless is working to have “the best security and user experience,” Jeffrey Nelson, a company spokesman, said today in an e-mailed statement. The carrier will allow the Google service, called Google Wallet, “when those goals are achieved.”
The US operator’s decision is seen to be a competitive move to ensure that it can debut its own NFC-based payment service ISIS. Verizon has contributed to a $100 million investment fund with rival US operators AT&T and T-Mobile USA to roll out a payment service controlled and operated by operators and not vendors or third-party service providers.
Handset makers HTC, LG, Motorola Mobility, RIM, Samsung Mobile and Sony Ericsson have said they will launch NFC-enabled mobile devices that use Isis’ NFC technology, which are expected to debut next year.
Google has remained quiet on the matter, moving only to say that “Verizon asked us not to include this functionality in the product”. This suggests that although Google Wallet launched exclusively on Sprint, the company was willing to work with the operator to include its service on Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus, which is yet to launch in the U.S.
Nexus device owners have been able to load Google Wallet on their devices via a number of unofficial routes, it appears Verizon customers may have to do the same, at least until Verizon decides the service is secure enough and easy to operate.
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