Google Wallet partners with Softcard to compete against Apple Pay in the US

After launching Apple Pay last fall, the mobile payment platform created by Cupertino-based tech giant was quick to gain market share. Although Google has been pushing its Google Wallet app as a mobile payment service for several years now, Wallet has been very slow to gain adoption. This situation might change by the end of the year in the United States, as Google recently announced a partnership with AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and T-Mobile, three of the four major carries in the country.

By the end of the year, Google's Wallet will come pre-installed on all new Android smartphones sold by these carriers. Until today, Google Wallet was boycotted by the major US carriers, as the companies tried to promote their own mobile payment service called SoftCard. In the official announcement that revealed the partnership, Google also unveiled that it has purchased technology and intellectual property from Softcard. Just like Google Wallet, Softcard was unable to gain any significant traction as a mobile payment service.

Although this deal means nothing for Gogole Wallet outside of the United States, once the payment app will start being pre-installed on new Android smartphones, chances are that Wallet will become a serious competitor for Apple Pay. As mobile payments are starting to gain popularity in developed markets, Apple and Google are facing another possible threat: a few weeks ago rumor broke out that Samsung is also looking to enter the mobile payment market by pre-loading the Samsung LoopPay service on the upcoming Galaxy S6.

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