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10 things you need to know about Google Wallet

By Marguerite Reardon

September 19, 2011 / 5:55 PM EDT / CBS News

Google Wallet is officially live starting Monday. The company announced its digital wallet in May. Now Google Wallet can be used anywhere MasterCard PayPass terminals are used. To test out how easy it is to use Google Wallet, I went wandering around my neighborhood on a tiny shopping spree. (And I say tiny because I was using the $10 that Google is giving to all early adopters of the Google Wallet that they can use until the end of the year.)

Google Wallet and the PayPass locator

MasterCard offers a free app that comes with the Google Wallet to help consumers find locations where its tap-to-pay PayPass system is accepted. There are more than 144,000 merchants who supposedly are capable of using PayPass at their locations, according to MasterCard. But as I found out on my shopping trip, some stores listed in the locator don

Failed attempt at using Google Wallet

I was happy to see that my local grocery store, Gristedes, accepted PayPass. I have never used PayPass via my plastic credit cards. So I wasn

Google Wallet makes a payment

Disappointed that my first attempt at a Google Wallet purchase didn

Quick and easy payments

Indeed, making a payment with a smartphone is easy and quick. The cashier acknowledged that my payment had been registered. She handed me my gum and receipt. And I was on my way.

Adding other cards to the Google Wallet

Initially, the only personal credit card that can be added to Google Wallet is a Citibank MasterCard. But Google announced Monday that it will be licensing near-field communications technology from American Express, Visa and Discover too. This means that in a few months, people will be able to add these other types of credit cards to their Google Wallet. Google must also strike deals with banks issuing those cards. But John Partridge, president of Visa, said he expects that a Visa credit card will be ready for Google Wallet in the next few months. Google will have to push another over-the-air update to Google Wallet-enabled devices to allow other credit cards to be added to the Google Wallet.

Gift cards and Loyalty cards

Google is also allowing people to load their gift and loyalty cards from merchants into the Google Wallet. Initially, Google Wallet users will able to load a gift and loyalty card from American Eagle. Consumers will be able to earn points on their loyalty cards. And they will be able to redeem points and use gift cards that have been loaded to their Google Wallet.

Check your tap history

One of the features of the Google Wallet is that it allows you to check your

Check your balance

You can also check your balance for your various credit cards using Google Wallet. This picture shows how much money I have left on my Google Prepaid MasterCard.

Google Shopper

Google has also preloaded its Google Shopper application along with the Google Wallet application to allow consumers to find products pricing, availability and reviews for products by scanning barcodes and cover art, or by voice and text search. Shopper also uses GPS or their recent Google Wallet tap history to show them deals around them.

Marguerite Reardon

Marguerite Reardon has been a CNET News reporter since 2004, covering cell phone services, broadband, citywide Wi-Fi, the Net neutrality debate, as well as the ongoing consolidation of the phone companies. E-mail Maggie.

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