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Discover lets consumers save credit cards to Google Wallet via new partnership

Author

Rimma Kats

To sync their credit cards to Google Wallet, consumers can log into their account. The partnership is further proof that the mobile payments space is growing at a rapid pace.

“Our cardholders use their Discover card to make purchases and payments online, in-store and now more frequently through their mobile devices,” said Sanjay Gosalia, director of mobile at Discover, Riverwoods, IL.

Discover Financial Services is a direct banking and payment services company.

How it works
Through the partnership, Discover cardmembers can tap and pay for in-store purchases using the Google Wallet application.

Once consumer sync their credit cards, they can make it the primary card used in Google Wallet.

Currently, the mobile app is only available on select devices.

Sprint currently supports Google Wallet on the Samsung Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus. The LG Viper will be added this spring.

In March, Sprint Nextel announced that it would introduce at least 10 additional devices with support for Google Wallet this year, a crucial next step in driving adoption of Google’s mobile wallet.

However, there is no word on when the additional 10 devices will be added this year.

According to Discover, cardmembers who use the Google Wallet application to pay for items will continue to earn their Cashback Bonus rewards.

Evolution of mpayments
Recently, Google revamped its mobile wallet application to support all credit and debit cards, as well as let users disable the service remotely – a move that further solidifies the search giant’s continuous determination to win the ongoing NFC race.

Earlier this month, the search giant released a cloud-based version of its Google Wallet app. The app now supports all credit and debit cards from Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover (see story).

With these new enhancements, Google is paving the way in terms of mobile payments.

“By offering the ability to join Google Wallet, Discover is providing our cardmembers with even greater flexibility and convenience when it comes to paying for their purchases,” Mr. Gosalia said.

Final Take
Rimma Kats is associate editor on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York