In the world of mobile payments first, there was PayPal, and then Apple Pay. Now, with the acquisition of Softcard and a deal with major wireless carriers, enter Google Wallet -- this time, for real.

On Monday, Google announced it was taking its Google Wallet mobile payments system to the next level, in a major competitive move against Apple, which launched Pay last year with the iPhone 6.

Google Wallet Becoming the Apple Pay of Android?

Writing in the Mountain View giant's Commerce blog, Google VP of Payments Ariel Bardin announced a major step towards getting consumers to take its Android mobile payments system, Google Wallet, seriously -- and perhaps use it as well:

We're excited to announce that we're working with AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless, as well as their mobile payments company Softcard, to help more Android users get the benefits of tap and pay. Under this relationship, the Google Wallet app, including the tap and pay functionality, will come pre-installed on Android phones (running KitKat or higher) sold by these carriers in the US later this year.

Google is also acquiring "some exciting technology and intellectual property from Softcard," according to the announcement. Softcard is a struggling mobile payments firm founded with the help of AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon that, according to Wired, has been fighting against Google for years.

But Softcard hasn't managed to make much of a market impact itself, despite having exclusive pre-installation distribution deals with major wireless carriers, and the vague, partial Google acquisition leaves a lot of uncertainty over its future.

The company already had to lay off a significant portion of its staff this year, as Re/Code reported. Perhaps it's a problem with name recognition. Softcard is an unfamiliar brand to most, even when they see it pre-installed on their smartphone. And its previous branding didn't turn out too well: Before changing its name in late 2014, Softcard was known as ISIS Wallet.

In any case, Softcard is staying cagey about its own future, but with Google Wallet cleared to be pre-installed on all Android phones sold by every major carrier except Sprint, the deal marks a big victory for Google.

Google vs. Apple: Tap-to-Pay Still Out of Reach for Many

However, for consumers, there are still hoops to jump through to either use Apple Pay or Google Wallet for tap-to-pay in stores.

For Apple, you need an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus, period. Apple Pay works with many major banks and all major credit cards, but the requirement to own a new iPhone is pretty exclusive nonetheless.

For Google Wallet, you need a new Android phone sold this year by AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon. Some older Android phones will still work, and you can download Google Wallet (since it wouldn't be preinstalled), but your device must have NFC capability and also run an official version of Android 4.4 KitKat or later. Cheaper or older Android phones without NFC or devices that are not upgradeable to KitKat will simply not cut it.

One last caveat to consider:

According to The Washington Post, there's one important difference between Apple Pay and Google Wallet's NFC payments system. Apple launched Pay late last year with a promise to never track its users' purchases. Google never made such a promise, and while that may yield special deals targeted to your preferences, it still means Google will know what you're buying with your phone.