It was only a few days ago that rumors began to circulate that Google was working on a new mobile payment concept. The short of the reports was that Google was hoping to bring to market a service known as 'Plaso' which would allow users to pay for goods, simply by telling the cashier their initials. The user would approach the cashier presumably with their smartphone in close proximity and once their initials were stated, the transaction would be made. Beyond this, there were little further additional details known. However, it did seem clear that this was the latest attempt by Google to try and reinvigorate their flagging mobile payment solution hopes of competing against what seems to be an unstoppable rising of Apple Pay.

Well, to add to what seems to be an ever-increasing hill for Google to climb, Apple have announced the addition of a new very big partner to the Apple Pay list, the White House. Over the weekend, President Obama announced at the Cyber Security conference that Apple Pay will be employed by the Federal Government for federal payment cards as well as Social Security and Veteran's payments. This means that Apple Pay have now secured the Direct Express payment network and GSA SmartPay which is said to take care of over 87 million transactions. In short, it is apparently worth over $26 billion a year which will certainly be a massive injection to Apple's new offering.


There is no doubt that such an alliance will seem to endorse Apple Pay and although not directly being said, will be seen as a blow to Google and their Google Wallet solution. As such, this will be seen by Google as a very big missed opportunity. Securing a contract from the White House does ensure Apple Pay will indeed adopt a very large and immediate transaction list. Not to mention, the initial contract will likely lead on to more Apple Pay/Government partnerships, like for instance, expense, credit, procurement cards and the likes in the future. Are you surprised the Government have opted for Apple? Let us know your thoughts.