Soon,Google will let you use cellphone as wallet

Google is considering building a payment and advertising service that would let users buy milk and bread by tapping or waving their mobile phones against a register at checkout,two people familiar with the plans say. The service may make its debut this year,say the two,who requested anonymity because the plans haven’t been announced. It is based on near-field communication (NFC) technology,which can beam and receive information wirelessly from 4 inches away.

Google joins a slew of companies that want in on the NFC market,which may account for a third of the $1.13 trillion in global mobile-payment transactions projected for 2014,according to IE Market Research. In November,Verizon Wireless,AT&T,and T-Mobile USA formed a venture called Isis to offer an NFC-based service in 2012.

“Visa is testing contactless payments and planning to roll them out commercially in mid-2011,” says Bill Gajda,Visa’s head of mobile innovation. “It’s a land grab,” says Jaymee Johnson,a spokesman for Isis. “Folks are sort of jockeying for position.”

EBay’s PayPal may start a commercial NFC service in the second half of 2011,says Laura Chambers,senior director of PayPal Mobile. The system would also power peer-to-peer NFC transactions. For example,a restaurant patron might beam his share of the bill to his dining companion’s phone. PayPal is open to partnering on NFC payments with companies such as Google,Chambers says.