Google buys mobile payment startup, Zetawire

Stuart Corner
Wednesday, 15 December 2010 08:47

IT Industry - Strategy

The web is abuzz with speculation about Google's plans for the mobile payment market after a US research firm 451 Group revealed that Google had bought Canadian mobile payment startup, Zetawire, in August.

The move coupled with the fact that the new Samsung Nexus S smartphone, which incorporates near field communications and which is the first Android 2.3 phone, suggests that Google intends to become a serious player in the market for mobile payment.

451 Group is reported to have said that Zetawire has acquired a patent for mobile banking, advertising, identity management, credit card and mobile coupon transaction processing. However iTWire's research has found that the patent is still at the application stage, at least with the US Patents and Trademarks Office (application number 20090288012. It was filed by Zetawire's founders, brother Philipp Hertel and Alex Hertel and two others in November 2009.

It appears to be for a complete mobile payment an advertising ecosystem. It is billed as a secure electronic transaction system for mobile phones or dedicated devices comprised of integrated payment, advertising and identity management systems that "has all of the benefits of the individual systems as well as several additional synergistic benefits."

It has "a user interface that acts as a visual wallet simulator along with a security architecture, coupon handling and architecture for delivering targeted advertising, business card handling, membership card handling, login management, receipt handling," and "the editors and grammars provided for customising the different types of objects in the system as well as the creation of new custom objects with custom behaviours." The complete application can be found here.