Google To Launch Mobile Payment System

Google is now joining hands with Mastercard and Citigroup to setup a mobile payment system for Android phones that will turn Android ph...

Google is now joining hands with Mastercard and Citigroup to setup a mobile payment system for Android phones that will turn Android phones into a kind of electronic wallet. This new technology, which is in its early stages, will allow Android consumers to use their Android phones in a form of checkout counter to make payments.

The planned payment system would allow Google to offer retailers more data about their customers and help them target advertisements and discount offers to mobile device users near their stores, the sources told the WSJ.

Google is not expected to get a cut of the transaction fees, the paper said.

Initially, holders of Citigroup-issued debit and credit cards would be allowed to pay for purchases by activating a mobile payment application developed for one current model and many coming models of Android phones, the paper said.

Google, Citigroup and Mastercard could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters outside regular U.S. business hours.