MasterCard has demonstrated Google Wallet at a media event in New York giving more details about a service that so far has had a limited US rollout but is supposed to become widely available shortly. The credit card company announced an alliance with Google for its m-wallet along with Citibank and Sprint back in May. The demo gave more insight into the service. “The transactions take place as instantaneously as you’d expect with spending alerts notated automatically in-app, as well as via text message,” reported Engadget. In addition, the service offers a range of security for users: it enables users to set spending limits, approve or block transactions which are presented by category (entertainment or eating out for instance) and receive alerts about any overseas activity on their account.

Separately, MasterCard Labs used the same event to demonstrate its QkR platform which is further away from mass-market deployment than Google Wallet but gives an idea of the direction in which the company might head in the future. The platform is a mix of QR code, gesture recognition, touch and the use of sound. For instance, a restaurant tabletop embedded with a QR code could allow a user to order remotely using NFC technology while remaining seated. Or technology based on Xbox Kinect could enable the user to select and pay through a screen-based process by a series of gestures. Or a mobile app that detects audio signals in a TV commercial and enables a user to download additional information about an advertisement.