Google teams with Visa on mobile payment technology

In an effort to tap into the rapidly expanding mobile payments sector, two industry behemoths have teamed up with the hopes of attaining a significant market share before industry titan Apple unveils its own plan.

Mountain View, California-based Google and Visa Europe announced this week they would work together as they endeavor to draw revenue from consumers hoping to pay for store purchases using their smartphones.

Per terms of the deal, Google received a worldwide license to Visa's payWave, a newly launched NFC-based payment technology. The tool allows consumers to make secure payments at stores and other retail locations by waving their mobile phones in front of a payment terminal, according to the company.

Visa's payWave technology is already accepted at hundreds of thousands of retail locations throughout the world, and the company is actively working to bring it to additional businesses.

With payWave technology at its disposal, Visa customers using Google Wallet, a mobile application that effectively transforms a smartphone into a digital wallet, will be able to integrate their credit debit and prepaid accounts into the service. The newly launched strategic partnership between the two companies will allow consumers to more easily use mobile technology when paying at retail stores in the future.

"Mobile technology is transforming how people pay for goods and services," Visa global product head Jim McCarthy affirmed in a statement. "This agreement builds on Visa’s strategy of enabling consumers to make mobile payments with whatever device they choose using the trusted accounts they already have."

Industry analysts contended the deal represented an attempt by Google to gain market share in the potentially lucrative sector before rival companies are able to. Apple has an advantage if – and more likely, when – it launches a similar mobile payment technology, experts say, as more than 200 million people have already stored their credit card information in iTunes, making the transition a rather simple one.

Nevertheless, with Visa as a partner, Google officials hope to tap into the burgeoning market.

"This agreement extends Google Wallet to Visa account holders worldwide," Google commerce and payments vice president Stephanie Tilenius said. "This is a crucial step towards realizing our shared vision for the future of mobile commerce - one that creates a rich shopping experience for consumers and merchants alike."