Google nabs TxVia for its mobile wallet offering

Google unveils mobile payments, daily deals

I know this is silly, but the term “mobile wallet” sounds odd to my ear. Aren't all wallets mobile in that you can carry them around with you in your pocket or purse?

Okay, semantics. Sorry.

Anyway, the news here is that Google has announced its acquisition of  payment processing tech company TxVia, which means the Internet behemoth is, in the words of Google VP of wallets and payments Osama Bedier, “[accelerating] innovation towards our full Google Wallet vision.” The announcement was made in a Google blog post and didn't go into any detail about the specific terms of the arrangement.

Its vision, Google says, is about taking the commerce experience and making it better. Sounds good.

Now that Google's slipped TxVia into its proverbial wallet, it might use the latter company, which was founded back in 2008, to expand its platform beyond just near field communication, according to Forbes. Forbes notes that Google's been struggling to gain traction for its digi-wallet ever since it launched about a year ago.