Is Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Pay Paving the Path for Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Wallet?

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By Martin Foley on November 8, 2014 Company, Technology & Software

Sometimes success of one product acts as a little push for another. Similar has been the story between Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL). Both are labeled as tech Giant and have had their share of success from year to year. Both have brought to their customers, smartphones, wearable and now an online payment system. Even though Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) made it launch with Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Wallet long before Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Pay came into play, Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Wallet was considered a failure. With customers hesitant to use this new payment method, the company suffered a loss. Then this year Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Pay was introduced and since Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has a loyal customer base, it wasn’t long when users started using Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Pay in their daily lives. But somewhere in the process, Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Wallet users also got over their discomfort of online payment and started using it. In a matter of months, Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Wallet usage touched new skies, with the user base doubling every month.

NFC- Near field communications, which is a form of short range wireless communication, comes with an antenna which is smaller than the size of wavelength of signal, of the carrier. When NFC was started, it was anticipated that it will be the next big thing. But after a few years investor gave up on it, until now, when Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) adopted it as part of its Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Pay system. With Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) help, NFC finally has the chance to play the field and gain popularity.

Ever since Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Wallet’s launch, the service was considered a big failure in terms of finance and strategy. It never gained popularity among customers. They rejected it without even using it. But now with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) holding hands with NFC based payment system, Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has also jumped on the band wagon.

A year ago, Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) introduced peer to peer transfer and loyalty card features, and last week, it made an addition to the list by adding recurring bank transfers and alerts when the balance is low. This is a method to keep customers informed of their funds availability.

It needs to be looked at from a user’s perspective, who wants to take on the services for its ease of use, security and convenience. For many, the in-store experience is the turning point, as that’s where mobile payments are used frequently. At this point, Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Wallet and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Pay are very similar in its in-store payment mode. Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Wallet uses a pin code and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Pay requires Touch ID. Both use NFC techniques to get the task done.

As Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Pay works on creating awareness about the safety features and convenience of mobile payments, it’s adding up customers for itself as well as Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) wallet. People are quite willing to rely on these apps to make life easier.