The Wall Street Journal reports that Google is in heavy negotiations with MasterCard and Citigroup to bring near field communications (NFC) payments to Android devices. This is where you wave your phone in front of a reader when you go to pay. Digital wallet, invisible credit card, space money, whatever you choose to call it. You’d get the app for free. Google would tie it into advertising, possibly looking at what you bought and bringing you offers and coupons and ads of similar products. So what’s in it for the merchants? Information about you taken straight off your phone.
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
