payment - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Feb

Google Shifts Developer Payments To The 15th Of Every Month, Provides A Transition Schedule To Help Devs Pay Rent

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Google, News

If you make money on the Play Store, you should probably check your email. Google is sending out a notification to developers to let them know that in the future, payments will be sent out on a 15 day delay instead of the one or two days the company has been using for a while. What does this mean for you? Well, if selling apps is a primary source of income for you, then you'll want to do some planning. Before you panic, though, Google is implementing an intermediary schedule to make the transition a little easier.

Here's how it works.

Oct

Square Expands Service To Canada, Mobile App Receives Minor Refresh

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Applications, News

Square, the service that makes "commerce easy for everyone," has just expanded its mobile payment/commerce service to Canada.

For those unaware, Square is an app/accessory that allows you to accept credit card payments anywhere from Android or iOS devices. The company provides a free card reader and app in exchange for a small percentage of each completed transaction, giving small and independent businesses an easy, inexpensive, and secure way to open up their products to those paying with plastic.

In a press release posted to their website earlier today, Square announced that its expansion of service to Canada marked its first step in going international.

Aug

CyanogenMod 9.1 Includes SimplyTapp NFC Payment Support For Nexus Phones And The Galaxy S II

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in News

Jelly Bean may be all the rage at the moment, but the CyanogenMod team hasn't forgotten about their Ice Cream Sandwich implementation. Tucked in with the newly updated CyanogenMod 9.1 is support for the brand new SimplyTapp near-field communication system. SimplyTap is the labor of love of two dedicated CyanogenMod users, with the aim of broadening NFC payment usage via a more open implementation of the embattled standard. Currently the Tapp app is only compatible with CyanogenMod 9.1 - CM10 is moving a little too quickly to reliably add the necessary code.

Naturally, you'll also need an NFC-enabled device to use the SimplyTapp service.

Aug

[Weekend Poll] If Your Device Had Google Wallet Support, Would You Use The Service?

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Polls

It's no secret that Google Wallet got off to an extremely rough start. The service was announced nearly a year ago to a mild amount of fanfare, then almost immediately started hitting barrier after barrier, fighting for carrier and card support. Just a few days ago, they revealed that the big four (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover) were finally on board, thus bringing the service many steps closer to actually... you know, being usable. There are two major obstacles that remain, though one is simply a matter of the prevalence of technology in devices - something that is quickly being remedied.

Jun

Rumor: Sprint Releasing Its Own Mobile Payment Service Called "Touch," Google Wallet Now Left High And Dry

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, News, Sprint

Well, we knew it was a possibility, and given Google Wallet's painfully slow adoption rate (by carriers and payment processors), rumors today from NFCTimes that the service's sole remaining partner Sprint is coming up with an alternative aren't exactly surprising.

NFCTimes says the service will be called "Touch," and will utilize a "secure element" system like Wallet (a physical chip) in order to securely process mobile payments. Likely by necessity, this would mean the end of support for Google Wallet on Sprint handsets released after the launch of the new "Touch" service. Two embedded payment systems would be confusing to average consumers, and Sprint will have much more control over its own service (as well as revenue from it), as compared to no control with Google Wallet - undoubtedly something it wants.

Mar

What Is Isis, And Why Should You Care It's Now Partnered With A Bunch Of Payment Companies? Because It's Out To Kill Google Wallet

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Editorials, News

Mobile payment providers. Yeah, I'm already getting a little sleepy thinking about them, too. Let's face it, they're not the most exciting topic in the world, but whenever we talk about how people spend their money, you know there are lots of companies out there eagerly eying the potential of various new payment technologies with great interest. Among such companies are cell phone carriers, and the reason why should be obvious: smartphones with NFC are ideal platforms for next-generation payment systems.

We know Google has already figured this out. Wallet was launched back in September of 2011, though only on the Sprint Nexus S 4G, and only with MasterCard as a launch partner.

Dec

[Weekend Poll, Part 2] Did You Add A Payment Method To Your Market Account During The "10 Billion Promo?"

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Apps/Games, Polls

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see Would You Switch Carriers For A Phone? Have You Before?

This is part 2 of this weekend's poll; for part 1, please see How Many Apps Did You Purchase During The Market "10 Billion Promo?"

As promised, we have a second question regarding the recently over 10-day $0.10 "10 Billion Promo" sale, inspired by numerous comments on the sale posts and via Google+/Twitter/Facebook. Quite simply, did you add any new payment methods to your Market account? Vote in the poll, then head down to the comments to discuss.

May

Google Wallet And Google Offers Are Official, Pay With Your Phone Using NFC

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News

A few days ago, we told you that Google was most likely going to announce a mobile payment service using NFC. Today, that announcement is official, and it's called Google Wallet. Wallet is exactly what the name suggests: a payment service that aggregates all of your credit cards, coupons, loyalty cards, and more, into your Android phone. You can then not only use your phone to pay, but it will also enter your customer loyalty information automatically, as well as redeem any coupons that are loaded into your Wallet using NFC (near field communication).

Here are a few bullets about Wallet, how it works, and what to expect:

This service is going to officially launch this summer, but a beta program is already underway in San Francisco and NYC.

Apr

Android Market Carrier Billing Now On Sprint, Do You Have It Yet?

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Apps/Games, News, Sprint

Well, seems like Google wasn't lying when they said they would continue to work on providing carrier billing as a payment option in the Android Market, announcing the addition of the feature to Sprint handsets, alongside T-Mobile and AT&T. With three out of four major US carriers down, will carrier billing be coming to Verizon any time soon?

The feature has long been the request of many customers across all carriers, particularly internationally. This is largely due to the fact that Google Checkout remains unavailable as a payment option in a number of major international markets in South America and Asia, where Android's popularity is rapidly growing.

Oct

PayPal Payment May Be Coming To The Android Market

Posted by Brian O'Toole in Apps/Games, News

According to news website TheStreet, Google may be finally relenting on the Google Checkout-only system currently employed in the Android Market by letting PayPal in on the action. This is a facility that users have demanded for some time, and the ubiquity and convenience of PayPal payment should be a nice incentive for people to buy apps if they have not done so before. TheStreet also speculates that this new payment option may be the final piece of the puzzle in the long-awaited Google Music project, allowing for seamless payment from your device or PC. An announcement at PayPal's October 26th conference in San Francisco is expected to unveil this new partnership.