So the recent change to Google Wallet to let you use any card you wanted basically worked by creating a virtual credit card that acted as a proxy, and transmitting that card number using NFC. When the charge hit that virtual card, they would then process a corresponding charge to your real card.
It looks like they're going to give you the option of getting a physical representation of that proxy card.
One thing I'm curious about though is how chargebacks get handled with this system. Say I have the proxy card pointing at my Amex, I go buy something, and Google forwarded the charge to my Amex. Now for whatever reason I need to do a chargeback. Who do I talk to, Google, or Amex? How would that even work?
Does Google forward the charge to Amex, or does the Google Wallet Apps just simulate the Amex card's NFC signal, so that the merchant can't tell the difference? If the latter, you obviously deal with Amex
Google creates a onetime virtual card number that it sends to the merchant and that the merchant can process. The onetime card number never changes for that transaction, so a chargeback and return can always be processed for that order. I'm sure Google plays a part in the chargeback process due to the fact it acquired TxVia in April.
In regards to reward points- This article also mentions "Certain transactions may not earn your typical rewards or be eligible for certain benefits. Learn more about rewards. Please contact the seller with any questions about your order."
Most people seem to use their credit cards to pay for things instead of their debit cards to get reward points. This will definitely discourage people.
I don't think that's accurate as of a week or two ago.
Er, actually, I think that's just for online purchases. Google Wallet in the past has used a Masterpaid prepaid card for NFC transactions and my understanding was that the recent update causes a more direct credit card emulation as it will allow to use any sort of VISA/whatever.
Google had a partnership with Citi, so if you had a Citi card, it would actually send the real card number. With any other bank, the proxy card number is sent, and Google forwards the charge to the real card.
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So the recent change to Google Wallet to let you use any card you wanted basically worked by creating a virtual credit card that acted as a proxy, and transmitting that card number using NFC. When the charge hit that virtual card, they would then process a corresponding charge to your real card.
It looks like they're going to give you the option of getting a physical representation of that proxy card.
One thing I'm curious about though is how chargebacks get handled with this system. Say I have the proxy card pointing at my Amex, I go buy something, and Google forwarded the charge to my Amex. Now for whatever reason I need to do a chargeback. Who do I talk to, Google, or Amex? How would that even work?
Does Google forward the charge to Amex, or does the Google Wallet Apps just simulate the Amex card's NFC signal, so that the merchant can't tell the difference? If the latter, you obviously deal with Amex
Google creates a onetime virtual card number that it sends to the merchant and that the merchant can process. The onetime card number never changes for that transaction, so a chargeback and return can always be processed for that order. I'm sure Google plays a part in the chargeback process due to the fact it acquired TxVia in April.
http://support.google.com/wallet/bin/answer.py?hl=en&ans...
In regards to reward points- This article also mentions "Certain transactions may not earn your typical rewards or be eligible for certain benefits. Learn more about rewards. Please contact the seller with any questions about your order."
Most people seem to use their credit cards to pay for things instead of their debit cards to get reward points. This will definitely discourage people.
I don't think that's accurate as of a week or two ago.
Er, actually, I think that's just for online purchases. Google Wallet in the past has used a Masterpaid prepaid card for NFC transactions and my understanding was that the recent update causes a more direct credit card emulation as it will allow to use any sort of VISA/whatever.
The former. If you use the Google Wallet app on the phone, it almost always shows up as the proxy MasterCard now.
This has ramifications for rewards programs: http://support.google.com/wallet/bin/answer.py?hl=en&top...
Google had a partnership with Citi, so if you had a Citi card, it would actually send the real card number. With any other bank, the proxy card number is sent, and Google forwards the charge to the real card.