MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – Google’s Monday announcement that is plans to acquire Motorola Mobility Holdings is expected to lead to a surge in its mobile payment plans, and to have fallout for the broader issue of adoption of mobile payments.
Motorola phones already run the Google Android solution. Analysts noted the Google Wallet solution has been limited to working with the Spring Nexus S phone while other telecom providers have been participating in the ISIS mobile payment consortium. With the acquisition of Motorola Mobility, Google is expected to be able to design, manufacture and distribute its own phones, presumably with Google Wallet software and mobile payment technology preloaded. Google already has payments relationships in place with Citi, MasterCard, Sprint, First Data and 16 other merchants to partner on its Google Wallet mobile payment scheme, which is still in test mode but will support contactless payments from near-field communication-equipped phones.
Analysts said one other implication that could affect credit unions is the acquisition might mute willingness by some handset manufacturers to continue to invest in the Android operating system.
