An anonymous source has tipped Android Police regarding some embedded code within the Google Wallet APK. There’s tutorial text within the code that deals with direct money aka person-to-person or P2P payments. The code is not NFC specific, so it may be an indication that Google Wallet will become available to devices without NFC.
<string name=”tutorial_send_money_description”>Pay friends or family quickly with just an email address or phone number.</string>
<string name=”intro_video_send_money”><b><font color=#1f7cd4> Send money quickly.</font></b> Pay friends and family instantly, right from your device.</string>
Other code within the APK suggests that Google is testing this new feature internally known as “dogfooding”.
Pay fellow Googlers quickly and for free with just an email address.
For Google Wallet related questions contact Google toll-free at 1-855-[redacted].</string>
For questions specific to sending or receiving money, Dogfooders can email <a href=mailto:[redacted]@google.com>[redacted]@google.com</a>.</string>
A new button called “Send Money” was found as well. This would suggest yet another design of the interface, hopefully the revamp would make it closer to the current ICS/JB Holo look. New code referencing “Available Wallet Balance” and “Add or Withdraw Money” more than likely will be associated with the new “Send Money” button. Could this be a new PayPal or Clover competitor?Â
Once these new features become active, the usability of Google Wallet will become available for a wider variety of Android users because NFC will more than likely no longer be required. Since any retailer that uses Google Wallet also has NFC connectivity, could an odd side effect of increased Google Wallet adoption by retailers increase the popularity of NFC as more and more consumers see it in action due to increased availability? This backwards logic seems feasible. Could Google Wallet adopted for iOS since fruity phones don’t have NFC as well (le sigh)?
Let us know your thoughts. I’m all for this, none of my Android (and iOS perhaps?) friends can have an excuse that they don’t have any money on them anymore. Just think, if you’re at a restaurant, you could pay a full bill with cash and your friends could pay you instantly for what they owe.
Source: Android Police
