Pay securely with an Android smartphone, completely without Google services: This is the plan being developed by the newly founded industry consortium led by the German Volla Systeme GmbH. It is an open-source alternative to Google Play Integrity. This proprietary interface decides on Android smartphones with Google Play services whether banking, government, or wallet apps are allowed to run on a smartphone.
I see this topic come up often in conversations about degoogled Android and it makes me wonder what if anything I’m missing out on by just using cash/card for payments, cause not once have I been at checkout and thought to myself “man, I wish I could do this with my phone instead” but people talk about this like it’s almost a dealbreaker that makes it hard for them to seriously consider switching to Graphene or Lineage or whatever.
I don’t use the phone that often as a debit /credit bank card but I use it for payments (bills invoices etc.), paying on line, transferring money to people and accounts, and just managing accounts. The phone app is very useful for those functions - especially if the alternative is going into a bank and queuing.
A phone OS that will not work with banking apps is not really a contemporary solution. iOS or Android are the only reliable options at the moment in the US/Europe - Iiuc Open Source Android has to sandbox Google Play for banking apps to work so that’s not viable long-term solution, as Google will only make that more difficult in the future.
Given the issues with the judges at ICC and US payment systems, building an alternative to Google and Apple is a high priority
In a lot of counties banks are becoming mobile first. Want to login in the browser? Authenticate with your mobile app to approve. Don’t have a mobile phone with the requisites of the bank? Well, go to the branch, take a ticket, wait and then tell them what you want to do with your money. It’s not just about paying, banks are moving online authentication to be dependent on Google or Apple, whatever poison you pick.
This seems like same shit different flies. Still dependent on some centralised approval which doesn’t help openness and security. We need alternatives to the duopoly but this ain’t it, chief.
I agree, with the caveat that it’s very nice to be able to pay with my phone/ watch if/when forget my wallet, rather than having to go back home to get it.
It’s the hardware, and it feels like mobile in particular is intentionally designed to not be modular. I suspect that is by design to keep it under control of the big companies.
Right there with you. Access to my money relying on a device that needs to be charged is just stupid. I’m stranded somewhere, my phone runs out of battery, suddenly I have zero dollars. No thanks.
I keep a single bill in my phone case for emergencies (be it an actual emergency or I just want to eat at some place which only takes cash).
If my phone battery runs out I’m stranded anyway, since I can’t call anyone or use my public transport ticket.
Im truly struggling to understand what you mean. If your phone battery runs out, and you cant call anyone, do your legs and mouth suddenly stop working? Walk to a bus/train/transport station, use your words and pay for a trip home. obviously, if your money relies on the phone battery, yes you are truly stranded. But if you have a card or cash, you are not. It’s quite simple. I guess you just have no imagination and can’t fathom that people existed without phones or something? I’m asking in earnest, what do you mean?
I agree, it’s a nice-to-have but it’s far from necessary. I like having the option as a backup in case I forget my wallet, but I’ll live without it
India primarily uses Phones to pay. And I’m sure there’s a big community that uses custom ROMs.