Google Wallet to give consumers spending money to drive use of mobile payments

Google Wallet has announced that it will be giving consumers $10 to spend through its new NFC mobile payment service in the hopes to encourage its use, as it has – so far – had a slow start.

According to the official blog of the company, “We’re excited to give you a chance to try out Google Wallet and experience paying with a mobile phone.”

Google aims to offer this opportunity to customers at select retailers in five American cities ahead of the holiday season. Those cities are: Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, and Washington D.C. Google employees will be travelling there in order to host demonstrations that will show consumers how to make mobile payments using the Samsung Nexus S phone which is equipped with the necessary NFC technology.

Among the retailers that will be participating in this promotion are Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Jamba Juice, Walgreens, and several others. Both Samsung and Sprint are also getting ready to take part in these demonstrations, which are set to begin in the weeks from now through January 12.

Google Wallet has seen quite a slow adoption so far, possibly due to the fact that there are so few handsets that are compatible with the service. It is hoped that it will grow once more devices enabled with NFC technology become popular. At the moment, Google Wallet is only available on the model of phone used in the demonstration.

Also hindering the adoption is the fact that very few retailers have the NFC-reading payment terminals that typically come with a high price tag.