Google Wallet Slips Ahead of Apple’s Passbook with iOS Release, Android Update

Amid the media noise about the new iPhones and the launch of iOS 7, Google quietly updated its Android app and released Google Wallet for iPhone, becoming the first true mobile wallet for iOS, since Apple’s own Passbook does not interact with points of sale.

The iOS update was released September 19. The previous day, an Android update appeared in the Google Play store.

Google Wallet for mobile devices now enables the sending of money using Gmail to anyone with an email address, but recipients must activate a Google Wallet account to receive it.

Google Wallet is also taking steps into the loyalty and rewards space with offers appearing in-app. This is an incorporation of Google Offers, as noted by TechCrunch.  Barcodes appear on screen to redeem rewards at the point of sale.

All of this amounts to stealing a march on Apple, which is expected to enhance its Passbook offering to accompany the iOS 7 release. Passbook is currently big on coupons and offers but weak — or nonexistent — on actual transactions at the point of sale.

Google Wallet is enabled for NFC transactions, while the iPhone, and therefore Passbook, does not support NFC. It’s worth noting that NFC adoption for Android phones is far from universal as well.

There are signs Apple is moving in the direction of Bluetooth for mobile payment authorization. Bluetooth is said to be less efficient at pairing devices than NFC, but it is still unclear which way Apple will choose to go, if indeed it places bets on one and not multiple technologies.

Apple did not block the Google Wallet Release, but it may have delayed it: The version number of the initial Google Wallet app for iOS is 2.0.10206.  Still, for a company that controls its App Store with an iron fist, why didn’t Apple wait even longer to allow this?