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Andrew Davidson 
Susan Menke 
Susan Wolfe 
Lisa Hronek Google Wallet Brand Overload
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Print This PostFriday, Sep 30, 2011 • Posted by Andrew Davidson
In September Google launched its mobile-payment system, Google Wallet. The offering allows users to pay for products from their Google Nexus S phone after loading a credit card onto their Google Wallet app and tapping the device against a reader at the point-of-sale. Currently only Citi MasterCards can use Google Wallet; however, Visa, Discover and American Express are committed to joining the program in the future.
For a moment let us consider the branding implications of Google Wallet. There is already brand overload in the payments space, particularly for co-brand cards, as banks – particularly Chase, Citi and Bank of America – have become strong brands in their own right. Take the Virgin Atlantic American Express card issued by Bank of America – three strong, global, brands on one piece of plastic. How does this blend of brands, for example, stack up against the blend of brands on the Citi AAdvantage Visa Signature card? The truth is that nobody really knows the impact, but it is clearly confusing for the consumer.
So the situation is already complicated; but, with Google Wallet, two more brands are thrown into the mixer – Google and Samsung. There is a real danger that brands will be diluted with the new technology and that will have a negative impact on brand loyalty. When a consumer goes to pay at the point-of-sale, what brand is in their mind when they whip out their phone?
It is likely to be a few years before mobile payments become mainstream. Following the Google Wallet launch, MasterCard announced that it considered mobile payments to be a 5-10 year project. Certainly there will be some work to do before consumers see the benefits and embrace the new technology; however, card industry stakeholders will need to ramp up their branding strategies if that are to be the card of choice in the mobile payments era.
I’m already extremely uncomfortable with the data Google has on me, and that’s just what they are able to glean from my search history (e.g., medical concerns). Google wants to know *everything* about you: your personal life, your professional life, your financial life, your social life. Just how far are consumers willing to go with this? No matter how awesome their Wallet may be, I won’t even consider it.
I think we are, inevitably, moving towards an era in which every individual can be tagged and tracked; however, I think consumers will only allow a select group of brands – those brands they trust the most – to communicate with them in such a personalized way. The challenge is figuring out how to be on that shortlist of “most trusted” financial services brands. I think the pros of mobile technology will enventually outweigh the cons, but only a select group of brands will benefit.