Google Adds Mobile Wallet to Its New Tablet

Google's decision to add Google Wallet to its new Nexus 7 tablet could break the limitations its mobile payment system has faced in reaching consumers. 

Google Wallet, which allows consumers to make payments by tapping their phones against readers at the point of sale, has so far been supported on about four Android smartphones and its only carrier partner is Sprint. By contrast, the Nexus 7, a $200 WiFi-only device, is sold without any carrier restrictions or contracts. 

Google announced the addition of Wallet to the Nexus tablet in a July 17 blog post. The tablet began shipping this month as an inexpensive alternative to Apple's iPad. Though the Nexus 7 is priced in line with Amazon.com's Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble's nook, the Nexus 7 is a more powerful device that runs the latest version of the Android operating system, nicknamed Jelly Bean.

The Nexus 7 was known to have a Near Field Communication chip, though Google initially said this would be used to exchange data with other users by tapping their tablets together. 

Though Google launched its mobile wallet last year with the support of Sprint and Citigroup, it has not yet announced any additional bank or carrier partnerships. Verizon Wireless, one of the carriers behind the Isis mobile wallet, has actively resisted supporting Google Wallet on its network. 

Google has also had to address some security concerns with its mobile wallet, such as one issue that allowed access to stored funds by deleting a user's PIN.

Despite the limitations Google faced in getting its mobile wallet in front of consumers, Google Wallet's 2011 launch still gives it a head start against rivals Isis and Microsoft, which have yet to make their wallets available to consumers nationwide.