Extra Google Wallet merchants are live. Now you can pay AND save in a single tap.

We’re hearing from people at check-out counters throughout the country that paying with your phone is a little like magic. Just look at the ecstatic response on the faces of our friends who made their first Google Wallet purchases last Thursday.

Today, our partners American Eagle Outfitters, The Container Store, Foot Locker, Guess, Jamba Juice, Macy’s, OfficeMax and Toys“R”Us are rolling out an even improved Google Wallet experience. For the first time ever in the U.S., at these select stores, you can not only pay but also exchange coupons and/or earn rewards points—all with a single tap of your phone. This is what we call the Google Wallet Single Tap experience.

With Google Wallet in hand, you be able to walk into a Jamba Juice, American Eagle Outfitters or any other partner store. Once you’ve prearranged that Razzmatazz smoothie or found the right color Slim Jean, head straight to the cashier and tap your phone to pay and save—that’s it. You don’t have to shuffle about to find the right coupon to scan or rewards card to stamp because it all happens in the blink of an eye.

The Offers tab in Google Wallet has been rationalized to include a new "Featured Offers" section with discounts that are limited to Google Wallet. Today, these comprise 15% off at American Eagle Outfitters, 10% off at The Container Store, 15% off at Macy’s and an all-fruit smoothie for $2 at Jamba Juice. There are a lot of more Google Wallet exclusive discounts to come, and you can save your favorites in Google Wallet so they’ll be routinely applied to your bill when you check out.

Organizing loyalty cards in your wallet is getting easier too. Today, Foot Locker, Guess, OfficeMax and American Eagle Outfitters are provided that loyalty cards for Google Wallet so you can rack up reward points automatically as you shop. More of these are on the way.

One more thing—in reply to user feedback, we’ve enhanced transaction details for the Google Prepaid Card with real-time transaction information including merchant name, location, dollar value and time of each transaction. Here’s what it looks like:

Lastly, a special thanks to Chevron, D’Agostino, Faber News Now, Gristedes Supermarkets and Pinkberry who are now also working to equip their stores to recognize Google Wallet.

It’s still premature days for Google Wallet, but this is an significant step in expanding the ecosystem of participating merchants to make shopping faster and easier in more places. If you’re a merchant and want to work with us to make shopping easier for your customers and attach with them in new ways, please sign up on the Google Wallet site. And if you’re a shopper and want to purchase a Nexus S 4G phone from Sprint with Google Wallet, visit this page.

Google Wallet

Google originate an interesting way to launch the Google Wallet app for Android: as an over-the-air update for Sprint Nexus S 4G phones. Google Wallet makes use of the NFC chip from Nexus S phones and allows you to create credit card payments at physical stores using your Android smartphone.

"Google Wallet enables you to pay with your Citi MasterCard credit card and the Google Prepaid Card, which can be funded with any of your accessible plastic credit cards. As a thanks to early adopters, we're adding a $10 free bonus to the Google Prepaid Card if you set it up in Google Wallet before the end of the year," informs Google. The Google Prepaid Card is powered by MasterCard and Money Network and it's a provisional solution until you can add credit cards from other companies. Google says that the submission could add support for Visa, Discover and American Express cards in the future.

Google Wallet is more than a contactless payment explanation: it's a virtual wallet that could store information about your credit cards, coupons, loyalty cards, gift cards, tickets and much more. It's also a great chance for Google to integrate Google Offers and make it easier to use by allowing consumers to pay, redeem offers and earn allegiance points in a single step using their mobile phone. Google says that it doesn't have access to the list of products you buy, but this feature could be additional in the future.

While Google Wallet seems to be a suitable solution, many people might not use it because of privacy or security reasons. Google says that the payment credentials are stored in a separate chip called Secure Element and only official programs can begin transitions. Google Wallet users need to enter the PIN to confirm a payment, so someone who finds an Android phone can't use the app because he doesn't know the code.

Google's vision is to generate "an open commerce ecosystem" that will support many payment instruments, APIs that allow adding loyalty points, transferring offers, receipts and more. Google Wallet is Google Checkout's extension to offline payments and it's a big opportunity for Google to generate a successful payment system. PayPal will soon offer a similar service and Apple's iPhone 5 could contain a NFC chip, so Google Wallet will have a few competition.

Coming soon: make your phone your wallet

Today in our New York City office, along with Citi, MasterCard, First Data and Sprint, we gave a demonstration of Google Wallet, an app that will make your phone your wallet. You’ll be able to tap, pay and save using your phone and near field communication (NFC). We’re field difficult Google Wallet now and plan to release it soon.

Google Wallet is a key part of our ongoing effort to get better shopping for both businesses and consumers. It’s aimed at making it easier for you to pay for and save on the goods you want, while giving merchants more ways to offer coupons and devotion programs to customers, as well as bridging the gap between online and offline commerce.

Because Google Wallet is a mobile app, it will do more than a usual wallet ever could. You'll be able to store your credit cards, offers, loyalty cards and gift cards, but without the bulk. When you tap to pay, your phone will also routinely redeem offers and earn loyalty points for you. Someday, even things like boarding passes, tickets, ID and keys could be stored in Google Wallet.

At first, Google Wallet will hold both Citi MasterCard and a Google Prepaid Card, which you’ll be able to fund with roughly any payment card. From the outset, you’ll be able to tap your phone to pay wherever MasterCard PayPass is accepted. Google Wallet will also sync your Google Offers, which you’ll be able to redeem via NFC at participating SingleTap™ merchants, or by performance the barcode as you check out. Many merchants are working to put together their offers and loyalty programs with Google Wallet.

With Google Wallet, we’re building an open commerce ecosystem, and we’re setting up to develop APIs that will enable addition with numerous partners. In the beginning, Google Wallet will be well-suited with Nexus S 4G by Google, available on Sprint. Over time, we plan on growing support to more phones.

This is just the start of what has already been a great exploit towards the future of mobile shopping. We’re extremely excited and hope you are, too.