Google Checkout is being consolidated with the Google Wallet mobile payment service, which is becoming the sole payment platform for the company's Android Market, YouTube and Google+ services.
Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) is consolidating payment platforms, merging its long-time Google Checkout service with its Google Wallet mobile payment service, the company said Nov. 16.
Launched September in New York and San Francisco, Google Wallet is the company's effort to coax users to pay for goods from Android smartphones at over 20 retailers, including Macy's, Toys R Us and American Eagle. Consumers with Sprint Samsung Nexus S 4G phones can pay for goods in those stores by tapping and paying against sales terminals.
Google Checkout was launched in 2006 as an alternative to eBay's PayPal service, but it never quite took off the way Google originally intended. Checkout users store their credit or debit card and shipping information in their Google Account, so that they can purchase at participating stores by clicking a button online.
Wallet will continue to enable users to make purchases in stores from their mobile phones, and add the ability to buy goods from their home computers. Wallet will also become the payment method for applications in Google's Android Market, movies on YouTube, titles residing Google+ Games, among other Google sites. READ FULL STORY HERE (eWEEK)