When Google Wallet launched six months ago, we were excited about a bright new platform for payments.
Now, while the enthusiasm remains, some of the shine has worn off the app.
What’s changed? There have been a few difficulties.
First of all, the near-field communications (NFC) tool is still sorting out its supporters, from carriers to retailers. But the biggest bump in the road was hit earlier this month, and it’s one that will cause the most concern in the eyes of consumers.
At the beginning of February an engineer at Zvelo managed to crack Google Wallet’s PIN authentication.
Google had shown off this four-digit PIN as an extra layer of security, one that made the payment app safer than a credit card.
However, getting around this layer of verification did manage to undermine the integrity of the offering.
So much so that Google temporarily closed down the app while it addressed the issue. This involved only part of the service, concerning the set up of new prepaid cards, but it could be enough to worry customers.
Without getting into the details of the technology, the problem revolved around the fact that if a user misplaced their unlocked Wallet, it was possible for a thief to reset the PIN.
This would mean, obviously, that the new user had unblocked access to all funds available on the Google card.
Google maintains that this was just a minor glitch, and that the app is still more secure than a standard credit card.
While that may be the case, it’s also true that security is a challenge when getting customers interested in a service like this one. Will the trouble stop progress of the technology? Is NFC still the way of the future, or is that future further off than we thought six months ago?
Now, while the enthusiasm remains, some of the shine has worn off the app.
What’s changed? There have been a few difficulties.
First of all, the near-field communications (NFC) tool is still sorting out its supporters, from carriers to retailers. But the biggest bump in the road was hit earlier this month, and it’s one that will cause the most concern in the eyes of consumers.
At the beginning of February an engineer at Zvelo managed to crack Google Wallet’s PIN authentication.
Google had shown off this four-digit PIN as an extra layer of security, one that made the payment app safer than a credit card.
However, getting around this layer of verification did manage to undermine the integrity of the offering.
So much so that Google temporarily closed down the app while it addressed the issue. This involved only part of the service, concerning the set up of new prepaid cards, but it could be enough to worry customers.
Without getting into the details of the technology, the problem revolved around the fact that if a user misplaced their unlocked Wallet, it was possible for a thief to reset the PIN.
This would mean, obviously, that the new user had unblocked access to all funds available on the Google card.
Google maintains that this was just a minor glitch, and that the app is still more secure than a standard credit card.
While that may be the case, it’s also true that security is a challenge when getting customers interested in a service like this one. Will the trouble stop progress of the technology? Is NFC still the way of the future, or is that future further off than we thought six months ago?
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