With a simple voice command and a couple of swipes, Google Glass users may soon be able to make mobile payments via Google Wallet, which TechCrunch reports is coming soon to Glass.
Google insiders allegedly told TechCrunch that Wallet on Glass will work pretty much like the way the app works on other devices. Users can simply say "Send money," which will most likely be preceded by the "OK Glass" hotword, and the app will offer a host of currencies and amounts to choose from. The user can use his finger to scroll through the currencies, although Glass followers believe users can also bark out a command to specify the amount and currency by voice.
"According to a source close to the company, Google is currently testing a way for Glass users to send money to their friends through Wallet by simply using their voices to ask Glass to 'send money.' The company is testing this service internally right now, but chances are it will launch to all Glass users in the near future," reports Frederic Lardinois of TechCrunch.
The sources say users have to be logged in to Google's corporate network to install the app. They can then set up Wallet from there before sending money through Glass.
Google will take a 2.9% fee or 30 cents, whichever is higher, says Lardinois. No word has yet been made on when the app will be available to Glass wearers, though.
Google has been stepping up its efforts to revamp its electronic payments system in the past year. In September last year, Google gave the app a complete overhaul, dropping its requirement for NFC technology after AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile said they preferred startup digital payments app Isis. Removing the NFC requirement also makes the app available for iOS.
Lately, Google rolled out Wallet for Gmail, which allows users to send money to recipients, even those who do not have a Google account, via email. Users simply have to click the money icon on the compose toolbar, choose the source of funds and specify the amount before clicking the Send button, which will then carry the money through the Internet's pipelines.
If the reports are true, Google Wallet will not be the first mobile payments glassware. Eaze, a payment solutions startup based in the Netherlands, currently has a nod-to-pay app on Google's directory of Glass apps. The app allows users to pay for an item they want to buy simply by saying "OK Glass, make a payment." Glass will then scan the QR code and the user will nod twice to confirm the purchase.
Eaze, however, is only useful for Bitcoin transactions, making Google Wallet, which supports several currencies, a much preferred payments system, although Eaze is looking to accommodate other currencies in the future.
"We are working to host several types of currencies on the Eaze ecosystem and make them usable for any type of device as long as it fits our philosophy of frictionless payments," says Eaze co-founder Rutger van Zuidan.
