Google has acquired the technology from mobile wallet company Softcard, which it will be combining with its Google Wallet service in the USA.
Softcard was launched at the end of 2010 by AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless . The company was originally called ISIS but was renamed last year.
This deal means that customers buying an Android phone from those three network operators will soon have the Google Wallet NFC payment app pre-installed.
Eventually the Softcard app will be discontinued in favour of Google Wallet, although no date has been confirmed yet.
[Google Commerce blog]