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Windows Phone left out as Google Wallet swallows Softcard
Google purchased Softcard earlier this week, and today it posted a support page about what to expect from the mobile wallet service in the future as it shuts down. No surprises here: Android users should download Google Wallet, which is replacing Softcard. But for users of the Windows Phone Softcard app, there is no NFC payment alternative.
From the FAQ:
What about Softcard for Windows?
The Softcard for Windows Phone app will also be terminated. A specific termination date will be provided soon.
Softcard for Windows Phone, we hardly knew you. The app first launched on Microsoft mobile devices last fall for AT&T and Verizon subscribers, and allows users with NFC-equipped Windows Phones to make contactless payments at certain stores and restaurants, including McDonalds. Because Windows Phones aren’t equipped with fingerprint readers yet, users have to enter a PIN to unlock the digital wallet.
When Softcard exits the Windows Phone store, it leaves the platform without a NFC-enabled payments app. Microsoft Wallet can theoretically make NFC payments, but its acceptance has been slow, possibly due to resistance from the carriers (who were committed to Softcard.) Android devices can download Google Wallet, obviously, and Apple’s iPhones have Apple Pay. The Softcard FAQ doesn’t mention Softcard on iPhone, but the plans to enable Softcard on the iPhone using an “integrated secure SIM-based hardware solution” (an NFC-enabled iPhone sleeve) are probably on the back-burner, too.
The decision to pull the Windows Phone Softcard app might not be a snub intended to hurt Windows Phone. It’s possible that Google has simply decided that the relatively few Windows Phone users weren’t worth the extra resources to support the platform. Plus, Google Wallet could end up going cross-platform in the future. But it’s still an example of how Microsoft’s inability to gain traction with its mobile operating system is closing doors for its users, as well as for Microsoft itself in the rapidly heating-up mobile payments market.
Image copyright Tappy screenshot via Softcard.
Related research and analysis from Gigaom Research:
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