[maxbrown]

No idea if it'll be a bigger success, but some thoughts:

1. Timing - 2011 (Wallet release) seems early for consumer NFC, not to mention smartphone penetration ([1] ~30% 2011 to ~70% 2014) and mass market comfort with mobile transactions (Uber, etc.) Wallet may just have been launched too early, they may have educated the market rather than capitalized on it.

2. Existing credit card info - many consumers already give Apple their CC info and payments (iTunes). I can only think of a few examples where you pay Google (Adwords, Google Play) and they are less commonly used.

3. Hype factor - Apple has some magic when it comes to hyping consumer products and services. Google has some of this, but I don't think it's nearly as much, especially with the general population (i.e. non-developers).

[1] http://www.gsmarena.com/asymco_pricing_doesnt_affect_smartph...

[bergie]

A bit more on the timing: USA is finally switching to EMV based credit card payments (chip and pin) during this year and the next, meaning that most terminals will likely be able to accept NFC payments as well (Google Wallet, Apple Pay, whatever else that follows the spec)