Hey AT&T - Are You Going To Activate NFC In The Note?

[goingocean]

I bought this phone with NFC in mind - I want Google Wallet so I can stop carrying a bunch of stuff around with me - when are you guys going to activate NFC on my phone?

[bmgoodman]

In my opinion, they will ONLY turn it on when they're ready to roll out AT&T Wallet(TM) and make some money on each transaction!  Really, they already have one hand in my wallet, why not take it to its logical conclusion?

[goingocean]

LOL!!  Well, I'll show them - I activated Square on my Note and I'll just use their payment system - so there.

[foxbat121 ACE - Wizard]

NFC is turned on for all the NFC capable Android phones in latest ICS leaks. But Google Wallet is not possible because AT&T does not allow Google to activate wallet on AT&T branded phones.

[goingocean]

Hi foxbat121,

Thanks for your response - seems crappy of AT&T to deny usage of an app that's in the store, especially when I came to AT&T for this device (the Galaxy Note) AND being able to use Google Wallet so I wouldn't have to carry around all of my debit/credit cards.

I know that it doesn't affect their bottom line, but I'll be going back to Sprint when my contract is up - I liked Sprint and the only reason I left was because AT&T offered a device (and access to a new technology) that would simplify my life - now I'm denied that benefit.

I don't like it one bit.

[foxbat121 ACE - Wizard]

AT&T is the founding member of the similar techonology called ISIS. There is no way for it to ever support a competing technology, Google Wallet. ISIS is almost ready and a few big guys are involved, include Verizon. That's why even Verizon's Galaxy Nexus doesn't support Google Wallet. It's hard to say which system will be more popular down the road. My 8 ball says ISIS will be the dominate player in the mobile payment system in US. GW will stay as a nitch player.

[goingocean]

Thanks - Square's pretty good, just need to get a few more local businesses involved in accepting it for payment - it may suffice and then I won't need any of the wallet companies.

[Clayshooter]

Square payment system is pretty much useless at this point.  Just a few non-mainstream businesses are accepting them as a payment type.  Nothing I'd patronize within 10 miiles of my work or home.

[smooth4lyfe]

I will say ISIS could possible be better if they allow VISA and MASTECARD instead of Google Wallets strict limitations CITI bank and gift cards only

[bashdrew]

any news about running ISIS mobile wallet on the original Galaxy Note?  Thanks.

[hertzsae]

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smooth4lyfe wrote:

I will say ISIS could possible be better if they allow VISA and MASTECARD instead of Google Wallets strict limitations CITI bank and gift cards only

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Google Wallet opened up to other credit cards a while ago.

From http://www.google.com/wallet/faq.html

"What payment cards can I add to Google Wallet?Google Wallet allows you to store all major credit and signature debit cards from VISA®, MasterCard®, American Express®, and Discover®. If you’ve ever bought an app or song from Google Play, or if you’ve ever used Google Wallet online, these cards will also appear in the mobile app."

[hertzsae]

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foxbat121 wrote:

AT&T is the founding member of the similar techonology called ISIS. There is no way for it to ever support a competing technology, Google Wallet. ISIS is almost ready and a few big guys are involved, include Verizon. That's why even Verizon's Galaxy Nexus doesn't support Google Wallet. It's hard to say which system will be more popular down the road. My 8 ball says ISIS will be the dominate player in the mobile payment system in US. GW will stay as a nitch player.

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I was unaware that the phones can only support only one NFC payment type. I've always believed that they could support multiple. I think it is simply a restrictive (and anti-competitive) policy choice by AT&T. If there is a technical limitation to support your statement "There is no way for it to ever support a competing technology, Google Wallet.", then I'd to see a link explaining it.

[21stNow]

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hertzsae wrote:

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foxbat121 wrote:

AT&T is the founding member of the similar techonology called ISIS. There is no way for it to ever support a competing technology, Google Wallet. ISIS is almost ready and a few big guys are involved, include Verizon. That's why even Verizon's Galaxy Nexus doesn't support Google Wallet. It's hard to say which system will be more popular down the road. My 8 ball says ISIS will be the dominate player in the mobile payment system in US. GW will stay as a nitch player.

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I was unaware that the phones can only support only one NFC payment type. I've always believed that they could support multiple. I think it is simply a restrictive (and anti-competitive) policy choice by AT&T. If there is a technical limitation to support your statement "There is no way for it to ever support a competing technology, Google Wallet.", then I'd to see a link explaining it.

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I have a link to a document below.  I haven't read through the whole thing yet, but it seems that Google may be the one blocking access to the secure element (p.16).  I know that for the ISIS trials that are happening so far, users need an NFC-enabled SIM card in the phone to be able to use ISIS.  This NFC-enabled SIM card is an alternate technology to the secure element found in the phones.  Even with the NFC-enabled SIM card, transactions still rely on the phone's NFC hardware.

http://www.droplabs.co/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Emerging-Mobile-Payments-landscape.pdf

[hertzsae]

Interesting. I'd love to know who is really blocking what. I'm hoping that the secure elements in the SIM means that I can use my S2. When my contract is up, mobile payments will heavily factor into which carrier and phone I end up with.

[FredW]

It will be unlocked when at&t is sure that they will make a profit from the chip. When Isis starts being used, at&t will get a small cut of the transaction profits. They didn't get that from Google Wallet, so they blocked it.