Google Wallet to discontinue prepaid cards in October

From CNET News.com: After seemingly overcoming a series of security issues, Google is cashing out of the prepaid payment card market next month.

The Web giant began telling users today to get busy spending whatever balances remain on their cards because those cards will be discontinued on October 17.

The prepaid cards were made obsolete with the introduction of the ability to use any debit and credit cards with Google Wallet, the company said. Google announced on August 1 that its payment system was moving to the cloud, meaning it would be able to accept all major credit and debit cards.

Debuting in mid-2011, Google Wallet was touted as an innovative yet simple way to pay for purchases using just a smartphone and near-field communications (NFC) technology. However, mass adoption of the mobile commerce platform was hampered by having just a few methods of payment, including the Google prepaid card, which could be reloaded by any existing credit card.

The prepaid card was further hobbled by vulnerabilities that could allow money to be stolen from users' accounts. Google suspended the use of its prepaid cards in February after a pair of hacks were discovered that allowed access to a user's funds simply by resetting the PIN and using a prepaid card.

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