On August 1, Google quietly launched Google Wallet for the Web – and the technology has the possibility of transforming online and mobile fundraising as we’ know it. Described simply, donors can sign up for a Google Wallet account, enter and save their credit card information, and then donate to any nonprofit (or purchase from any online store) that has a Google Wallet merchant account with only two clicks of a mouse (or two taps on a tablet).
Now, there are numerous mobile wallets out there (Square, Visa, Isis, etc.), but Google Wallet does appear to be the first one to empower nonprofits to fundraise online. In the future, my guess is that when donating or shopping online we will be able to choose which wallet service we want to use with one-click – similar to how we now choose which credit card we want to use when donating or shopping online.