Google's SingleTap Loads Up on Merchants

American Eagle Outfitters, Foot Locker and Macy's lead the list of stores that are using mobile phones for payments, offer redemption and loyalty points accrual.

Google Wallet's making an aggressive push to win consumer adoption and pressure rivals like ISIS by taking the ease of use route, adding a group of participating merchants to a service that allows consumers to pay, redeem offers and earn loyalty points in a single tap.

Its SingleTap service has added shopping mall staples American Eagle Outfitters, The Container Store, Foot Locker, Guess, Jambi Juice, Macy's, OfficeMax and Toys"R"Us. Consumers access the service by tapping their near field communication (NFC) enabled phones against point of sale terminals. Info on loyalty, coupons or rewards are automatically stored, saving consumers the extra step of searching for coupons to scan or finding a rewards card to stamp.

A blog on the Google Wallet site says the "Offers" tab in the Google Wallet has been updated to include a new "Featured Offers" section with discounts that are exclusive to Google Wallet. The current offers include 15 percent off at American Eagle Outfitters, 10 percent off at the Container Store, 15 percent off at Macy's and discount items at Jamba Juice. Additionally, Foot Locker, Guess, OfficeMax and American Eagle Outfitters are providing loyalty cards for Google Wallet, which automatically store loyalty points.

Google also says it's improved transaction details for the GooglePrePaid card with real-time transaction details for the Google PrePaid card with real-time transaction information including merchant name, location, dollar value and time of each transaction.