Google blocked a part of its new application Google Wallet due to security reasons

In recent news, Google announced that it is going to take down a part of their application, Google Wallet due to some security concerns. Recent developments have revealed that the application still works if the phone is lost and screen remains unlocked, the person who recovers it can change the pin codes in the application and can use the Wallet to his on pleasures.

“To address an issue that could have allowed unauthorized use of an existing prepaid card balance if someone recovered a lost phone without a screen lock, tonight we temporarily disabled provisioning of prepaid cards,” said Osama Bedier, vice president, Google Wallet and Payments. “We took this step as a precaution until we issue a permanent fix soon.”

Google Wallet works as an Android pre-loaded application that stores the user’s credit card information. In addition, it also supports Google’s prepaid cards in the same way.

However, it also needs a Near Field Communication (NFC) chip in it to work with another NFC enabled receiver on the retailers end.

Although it has been almost six months since its release, the project is still in its tender phase. It has failed to lure carriers save one, Sprint Nextel. Moreover, customers don’t seem to be clamouring about this new innovation in electronic currency.

Additionally, it is an expensive way of doing business as only Samsung Galaxy Nexus line has been allowed the usage of the service and there are only a handful of stores that support the transactions.

However, despite all the slow start and failure, Goole seems to stick its head in the project and bring it to a more promising stage.

“People are asking if Google Wallet is safe enough for mobile phone payments,” Bedier said in his blog post. “The simple answer to this question is yes. In fact, Google Wallet offers advantages over the plastic cards and folded wallets in use today.”

“We are very enthusiastic about the start we’ve had with Google Wallet,” said Nate Tyler, a spokesman for Google. “We believe Google Wallet represents an opportunity to bring more value to the transaction, so that consumers can not only pay, but also save and earn rewards when they make purchases.”

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Posted by Usman Khalid on Feb 15 2012. Filed under Sci-Tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.