Google partners with WePay to expand Wallet use

Google Wallet is partnering with payments processor WePay to place its Instant Buy API into 200,000 e-commerce checkouts.

Wepay processes payments for 200,000 small and medium-sized businesses through a relationship with Invoice ASAP, a mobile invoicing and payments service. Along with invoicing services, WePay also powers marketplaces and donation platforms like GoFundMe.

The partnership will allow consumers to pay for purchases or clear invoices using their Google Wallet at participating sites, using a similar ‘two tap’ structure as PayPal does in other apps, marketplaces and service portals. Google launched its Instant Buy API in 2013 in order to expand the wallet’s use, but has yet to make much of a dent in a section of the market dominated by PayPal.

Unfortunately for Google, Apple Pay is also attempting to position itself as a PayPal-like competitor, and is also in the process of being integrated with WePay.

Google Wallet hopes to close the gap between the 70 per cent of WePay invoices opened on a smartphone, and the mere 20 per cent of transactions happening via mobile.

“We want to make it as easy as possible for people to pay and get paid,” said Paul Hoeper, Founder and CEO of InvoiceASAP, in a statement. “But there’s only so much we can do on mobile. Entering your credit card info on a mobile device is inherently difficult, making it less likely that people will complete their transactions.”

Google is also reported to be eyeing a partnership with Softcard in order to expand Google Wallet services to more retailers.

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