LIVE FROM GSMA NFC & MOBILE MONEY SUMMIT 2012: The backers of Google Wallet knew from the start that the new payment service, which was launched in the US last year, would take time to take off, according to one of its supporters.

Speaking in a keynote this morning, Tomasz Smilowicz, MD, Head of Global Mobile Solutions, Global Transaction Services,Citi, said: “We knew from the beginning it would take time.”

The first card in the Google Wallet in 2011 (along with one of the search giant’s own pre-paid cards) was a MasterCard-backed Citi card. In August this year Google revamped its model as it moved to a more open model for adding new cards.

In his presentation, Smilowicz said introducing a new payment method such as Google Wallet takes two years because that is the time needed for NFC terminals to be widely available, and a new payment method introduced by the big retailers. He predicted that the next two years would “see NFC broadly acceptable across the country”.

Separately, it was reported elsewhere this week that Google is also working on another update to its wallet which may include support for the iPhone, which of course does not support NFC. Media reports claim the Google Wallet homepage has been updated to enable users to request an invite for a new Google Wallet that is currently under development.  Users signing up to the invite are asked what kind of device they use: iPhone, Android or other.