Google Wallet spotted in Sydney

Google Wallet has been spotted in the wild in Australia at a Google showcase day in Sydney this week, prompting speculation that the service is being tested for local deployment sooner rather than later.

Spotted: Google Wallet in Sydney
(Credit: source)

An attendee of Google's Creative Sandbox event held at Carriageworks in Sydney this week snapped a cheeky picture showing the Wallet's prepaid card service being used on a Commonwealth Bank-supplied test EFTPOS unit.

Officially, Google has said that the Wallet service is a US-only trial for a limited number of customers, but it's no secret that discussions around NFC-based payments are being held with the web giant down under.

At the launch of the Commonwealth Bank's "Kaching!" mobile payments service, chief marketing officer Andy Lark told ZDNet Australia that he's pursuing a partnership with Google for its Wallet service.

"We hope [to partner with Google Wallet]. We were up in Silicon Valley last week talking to Google," Lark said at the launch of Kaching.

"The reality is that they're testing that in the US now in a limited way, and testing in one or two European markets in a very limited way. Where Australia will sit on their test list, who knows?" he added.

ZDNet Australia sought comment from Google Australia, but none had been received at the time of publication.

Australians can get access to Google's Wallet service if they're desperate to have it, with an option available for import of the service on a compatible device or a hack that opens the service up to local registration.