Google’s been struggling for over a year now to drum-up interest in Google Wallet, and despite the arrival of more and more Androids with NFC capabilities, it faces some formidable competition from alternate mobile payment systems with carrier backing, like the threat posed by Isis. Now Google could have one more player to worry about, with Samsung announcing its own partnership with Visa and demonstrating its own Wallet app.

While Samsung Wallet and its Visa deal are separate arrangements, together they could draw users away from Google Wallet. All new Samsung Androids with NFC will offer Visa’s payWave app for mobile payments, and while Samsung Wallet wouldn’t necessarily offer direct payment abilities itself, its ability to store things like coupons and tickets fits right in with this ecosystem. The app’s user interface is already drawing comparisons to Apple’s Passbook.

With Samsung going its own way here, does Google Wallet have any allies left? For that matter, would you be that upset to see it fail, so long as equivalent services were available elsewhere?

Source: The Next Web
Via: Droid-life