Google has entered the prepaid debit card world.
Google announced the launch of a physical prepaid card last Wednesday. The new Google Wallet Card will be tied to a customer’s Google Wallet account and can be used to make purchases and withdraw money from ATMs.
IPhones haven’t adopted the technology necessary to use the in-store payment feature, and many retailers don’t have the appropriate point-of-sale equipment to process the transactions.
With the launch of this new prepaid card, a phone is no longer necessary to pay in stores — customers can simply swipe their card the old-fashioned way instead.
The Google Wallet Card can be used at all locations where MasterCard is accepted, and it doesn’t come with any fees. It doesn’t even charge you to withdraw cash at the ATM (though some ATMs will charge you a separate fee).
The card can be requested through the Google Wallet Android app or online.
The card, which is only available in the United States, lets consumers access the funds stored in their Google Wallet accounts. Google Wallet is a smartphone app and online payment service that lets consumers buy goods and transfer money to each other.
The new Wallet card will be accepted at “millions of locations” that accept MasterCard and at ATM machines, Google said in a post on its official blog on Wednesday. Google said the card is free and that the company will not charge cardholders any monthly or annual fees.
Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) is just the latest in a long line of companies, organizations, and celebrities to jump on the prepaid card bandwagon.
