Mobile phone-based payment solutions are the hot topic of the industry right now. Google is looking to enhance Wallet, Microsoft is introducing Wallet Hub, Apple is playing around with Passbook; PayPal, Square and ISIS are all throwing their hats into the ring. And then there's CyanogenMod, who just added support for a custom third-party NFC based wallet app called SimplyTapp.
Developed for, and intended for use only with, CyanogenMod (at least for right now), SimplyTapp is an all-in-one NFC wallet app. Introduced with the release of CyanogenMod 9.1, SimplyTapp was developed by two CM enthusiasts with the vision of creating an "open" mobile payments system, giving the power of mobile payments and NFC back to the user.
According to the SimplyTapp website, the app currently supports a fixed rate Tap Anywhere card (that functions like a gift card), a refillable CyanogenMod Tapp card and a small variety of store cards. In the future, more options will be added. Users of SimplyTapp will be able to vote and give their opinion on what cards they'd like to see added next.
SimplyTapp is specifically designed for and is working with the Galaxy Nexus, Nexus S and Galaxy S II, but it should work with any NFC equipped phone running CM 9.1.
Whether or not something like SimplyTapp will ever take off is hard to say. We'll definitely be keeping an eye on it. If you're running CyanogenMod 9.1, vist the SimplyTapp website to download now.
