Google Wallet Co-Creator Jumps Over To Square

Rob von Behren helped create the product we now know as Google Wallet but coming days will be spent with payment competitor Square.

Behren confirmed his move over to Square on Monday, three months after he left the Google Wallet project.

In responding to his new job Rob said Square is doing “great things” in the field of mobile payments although he didn’t explain what his new role is or how he’ll contribute to those great things.

Google Wallet has been bleeding talent recently with Division lead Osama Bedier leaving because of “philosophical differences” with some of his team leaders while several other top creators have also left including co-founder Jonathan Wall and product leader Marc Freed-Finnegan who left together to found Tappmo, a rival mobile payment system.

In the meantime murmurs have been heard regarding an uneasy feel among remaining Google Wallet employees who are questioning how the company will expand Google Wallet beyond its current offering. At this time Google Wallet only offers one official phone, one official carrier and one card provider which has led to low adoption.

Some employees involved in Google Wallet want a more open system that can be used by app developers while others are insisting on a closed system.

In other news Google is rumored to be thinking about splitting deals revenue with carriers to get them to adopt the company’s Google Wallet technology.

Rob von Behren is not expected to expand Square’s technology into NFC territory, instead his experience in mobile will likely be tapped.