Google has suspended the provisioning of pre-paid cards into its electronic wallet, preventing the use of stolen cards but equally preventing new customers from signing up. Two recent attacks have been made on Google's Wallet, which protects cards used to authorise NFC transactions made by bonking a phone into a payment point …

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Monday 13th February 2012 11:51 GMT Anonymous Coward

This technology is coming whether you like it or not.

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1. Monday 13th February 2012 12:06 GMT jai
  
  perhaps. but most certainly, thanks to google's rush to be first to bring this to the market, it'll be coming a bit later than perhaps it would have otherwise
  
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2. Monday 13th February 2012 12:34 GMT Anonymous Coward
  
  Nice attitude
  
  > This technology is coming whether you like it or not.
  
  You really have a good grip on how to make something popular.... in China.
  
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3. Monday 13th February 2012 14:05 GMT Jan 0
  
  @ j arthur rank
  
  I thought that was your comment on the "bonking" phone.
  
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4. Monday 13th February 2012 17:53 GMT Craigness
  
  There are quite a few criticisms of Google based around the idea that it's impossible not to use anything which Google creates. Trust me, you WILL be allowed not to use Google's products.
  
  The technology is already here.
  
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Monday 13th February 2012 12:26 GMT SJRulez

I'm still a strong believer in Signatures whilst they can be forged they still offer some additional checks which the new systems don't, the recent changes with Chip & Pin and NFC allows anyone to pay as long as they have the details. The number of times I've used my partners card to purchase things at the shop and no one even realizes amazes me, when i worked in retail you have to check things like the name, whether the signature was tampered with and none of this takes place anymore.

You can beat a pin number out of someone but you cant beat a signature out of them!

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1. Monday 13th February 2012 12:36 GMT Audrey S. Thackeray
  
  "You can beat a pin number out of someone but you cant beat a signature out of them!"
  
  Possibly not but you can read it on the back of the card and as you say it doesn't have to be perfect to be accepted (for which I am grateful as I have never managed the same signature twice, I don't think).
  
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2. Monday 13th February 2012 12:48 GMT Anonymous Coward
  
  Err...
  
  If I leave my wallet in the pub, with a signature strip, someone can pick it up and use it after a couple of goes at my signature which is recorded on the card. If it's a chip and pin card with no signature strip, they can't.
  
  I'll go with Chip and PIN, thanks.
  
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  1. Monday 13th February 2012 14:18 GMT Law
    
    RE: Err...
    
    hang on a minute... are you saying we don't write our pin in the signature strip these days?! :S
    
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    1. Monday 13th February 2012 16:33 GMT Anonymous Coward
      
      @Law
      
      Yeah, it's a recent introduction, but seems to be working ok.
      
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Monday 13th February 2012 12:45 GMT Colin Millar

This tech is a joke

whether you like it or not and there is no evidence to suggest that tech = inevitable

The problem with this tech is that in retail use there is no redundancy available. if the system is down you need plan B. And once it starts to become more widespread it will fail like every piece of customer operated retail machinery ever introduced. It always ends up back wioth some kind of operator supervision and that kills the whole pint.

If Plan B is robust enough and not greatly more inconvenient than Plan A - well - who needs Plan A.

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1. Monday 13th February 2012 12:49 GMT Anonymous Coward
  
  @Colin
  
  There is a plan B (in Chip and PIN at least), if the system is down the chip can authorise certain levels of payment.
  
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Monday 13th February 2012 17:03 GMT Anonymous Coward

Bwahahahaha..

You're allowing a company that makes its money selling every little detail they can suck from you to manage access to your money as well?

Honestly, how on earth could you ever expect them to have an inkling of security? Give me an email address, and I'll send you a nice link. No, honestly, I'll do no evil either. Promise.

Sjeez.

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1. Monday 13th February 2012 17:58 GMT Craigness
  
  Reality fail
  
  This article is about Google, not some company that sells your data. Google publishes targeted adverts on websites, they don't publish the data necessary to allow individual sites to provide their own targeted ads. If they did that their bandwidth cost would be higher and the value of their product would be lower. And they'd be accused* of making money by selling every little detail they can suck from people.
  
  *by people with even half a brain
  
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  1. Tuesday 14th February 2012 12:10 GMT Anonymous Coward
    
    Sadly..
    
    .. I actually work with people in the filed of information acquisition. Here is a hint: data collected for one purpose cam be used for other purposes too - and frequently is.
    
    Nothing beats Google for providing the missing pieces in a mosaic match..
    
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Monday 13th February 2012 20:11 GMT Anonymous Coward

"This article is about Google, not some company that sells your data."

My god, I hope Google pays you to say this bullshit out loud.

Targeted advertising is all about exploiting people's personal data as much as possible to make us buy or believe things we wouldn't otherwise. It's disgusting as hell.

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Tuesday 14th February 2012 11:05 GMT Nameless Faceless Computer User

public confidence

public confidence? I think not. Google Wallet comes with zero customer support, zero tech support, and no phone number to call with the thing swallows your banking information. I'm "done" with Google Wallet.

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