Google buys NFC payments startup Zetawire
14 December, 2010
category: NFC
Google has acquired mobile payments startup Zetawire in order to improve its support for NFC in Android phones, according to electonista.com.
Google bought Toronto-based Zetawire back in August, just after the company was awarded a U.S. patent for an end-to-end mobile payments platform that allows users to pay for goods with a smart phone at the point of sale. News of the acquisition was kept quiet until the 451 Group uncovered the deal following the release of the new Nexus S Android phone.
According to electronista.com, the Zetawire acquisition may lead Google to implement a mobile payment system using its Google Checkout program.
To date, Google has been reserved about implementing NFC technology, using it only for its Google Place tag, which lets users access a particular store’s information page by passing their phone over the tag.
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