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Google has temporarily suspended provisioning of prepaid cards in its Google Wallet, as it implements a fix to prevent a simple hack that would allow unauthorized users to spend prepaid balances on lost or stolen wallet phones.

The SIMalliance trade group and GlobalPlatform standards organization say they are working on what they predict will become a “de-facto standard” for the way apps on NFC phones communicate with secure elements.

U.S. mobile carrier Sprint has announced two more phones supporting the Google Wallet, including Google’s new Android smartphone, the Galaxy Nexus.

2012 was going to be the year that the new era of NFC-based mobile commerce had finally arrived–with Google Wallet rolling out widely, mobile operators in the U.S. and Europe making significant inroads with their own mobile wallets and big Asian m-commerce players generally commercializing NFC, as well.

Reports that Google is planning to launch its Google Wallet in the United Kingdom during the first quarter as a pilot is only a rumor, a source close to Google told NFC Times.

Google has confirmed in statements to the press that Verizon Wireless is trying to block it from offering the Google Wallet on its own Galaxy Nexus smartphone, which Verizon is expected to put on sale later this month.

Dickson Chu, who headed the Google Wallet program at U.S.-based Citigroup, has left the bank to take a newly created post as senior vice president for merchant solutions at daily deal site LivingSocial.

NFC phone software from SIM vendor group the SIMalliance that helps phone app developers tie into the secure elements on NFC phones is getting strong support from mobile operators but not from Google, at least not yet.

New Jersey Transit announced today it is supporting the Google Wallet, the first transit agency to do so–although it has not introduced its own ticketing application or open-loop fare colle

Google has unveiled its Galaxy Nexus, its much-anticipated follow-up to the Nexus S, which the Web giant is touting as supporting NFC-based content-sharing functionality called "Android Beam." The feature is part of the latest version of Google’s Android operating system, Ice Cream Sandwich.