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The Latest Front In The Apple Vs. Google Wars: Your E-Wallet

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On the heels of Apple’s significant acquisition of the network and mobile security firm, AuthenTec, Google has made an investment in another security company—DocuSign.

Apple spent $356 million for AuthenTec, indicating that it may be ready to jump into the mobile payment space in a big way. Meanwhile, Google’s e-pay product – Google Wallet – has run into some issues regarding restrictions on which banks and mobile networks it will accept. CNET, a tech media site, reviewed Google Wallet in May and found it to be “still a beta product.”

Google – already one of DocuSign’s clients – invested about $8.2 million into the company, bringing DocuSign’s current D series capital raise to $55.7 million, according to a report.

Don’t let each company’s level of investment fool you—both companies are serious about developing high quality security because their integrity as e-commerce hubs depends on it. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has had some practice in the world of e-commerce – think iTunes and the game-changing effect that product had on the music space. Combine that know-how, credibility accrued among customers and non-customers alike and which its name carries, plus the technology of AuthenTec (which has fingerprint identification technology as one of its features) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) is looking at a formidable opponent in the mobile payment arena.

If that wasn’t enough, another player in the mobile wallet world is Isis, a joint venture of Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T (NYSE:T). The new payment company could begin trials in August, according to a report. Should the new business gain traction, Apple and Google will have the added challenge of keeping an eye on new competition as they stare each other down.

Further embittering the fight is Apple’s decision to omit Google’s YouTube from its iOS6 operating system. That move, coupled with the Cupertino, California-based company’s ouster of Google Maps from its mobile devices, on top of Steve Jobs’ storied outrage over Google’s mobile OS, Android, allegedly being a “stolen product” could add further drama to this play for the mobile payment space.