Google recently announced a handsfree payment product which feels more like a publicity stunt than a serious attempt to disrupt the payments ecosystem.

My top reasons that Google’s offering won’t be successful:

  1. It requires an exotic point of sale setup to authenticate users.  Merchants are generally unwilling to invest dollars in upgrading the point of sale without incentives such as reimbursement payments, lower costs or reduced liability, especially for a payment option which is not likely to be used by many customers.
  2. One of the versions being tested requires the merchant to visually compare the buyer with a stored photo id.  Let’s hope that you don’t change your hair, gain/lose weight, or grow older.  And do we really expect the kid at McDonalds to do a forensic analysis of your photo and make a determination that it’s really you?  Merchants are already supposed to compare signatures with the back of the card, and we know how often that happens.  (Another version apparently will test cameras for visual recognition, but I doubt that many people would be thrilled with that checkout experience).
  3. It is probably slower than a digital wallet or card swipe.  While some time may be saved by the contactless nature of the product, it is probably canceled out by the added photo comparison step.  It reminds me of the old days when clerks had to check paper warning bulletins for bad cards before proceeding with the sale.
  4. It requires the use of an App to determine which merchants support it based on proximity  The name of the game in the payments space is ubiquitous acceptance.  Consumers don’t want to have to search ahead of time to determine where their payment choice is accepted.

Google has a much better chance for success with Android Pay, which provides a true benefit to customers and merchants alike by making the process quick and easy.