• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, August 16, 2012

Discover today confirmed its inclusion among the credit cards supported within Google Wallet. Google recently launched an updated version of its mobile payments app that lets users store and access card accounts from Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover via cloud-based technology. But Discover is the first to use Google's Save to Wallet API to let cardmembers save their cards directly to their Wallet from Discover's online account center, according to TechCrunch.

“By offering the ability to join Google Wallet through our Account Center, Discover is providing our cardmembers with even greater flexibility and convenience when it comes to paying for their purchases,” said Sanjay Gosalia, director of mobile at Discover in a statement. The company also noted cardmembers using Google Wallet to pay for items will continue to earn rewards through its “cashback bonus” loyalty program.

Even though Google had previously named Discover as one of its card partners, the card company's announcement gives a boost to the Internet giant's m-payments initiative. Google ran into a bit of an embarrassment when American Express earlier this month said it hadn't officially signed off on being part of the updated Google Wallet.

Google faces growing competition in the space, most recently from the Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX), a mobile payment initiative announced Wednesday by a group of 14 major retailers including Wal-Mart, Target and 7-Eleven. Google Wallet has partnerships with some 25 national retailers including Macy's, Toys R' Us and CVS.