Google has acquired technology and patents from Softcard, a mobile-wallet service backed by the three-biggest U.S. wireless providers, as the Web company is trying to offer more payment features on smartphones. Aiming to undercut Apple's latest hit service, Google is teaming up with three major U.S. wireless carriers to prod more people into using its mobile wallet.

Google introduced Google Wallet's tap and pay feature in 2011, and since then, mobile payments have grown rapidly. You can use the Google Wallet app on Android devices, on any carrier network, to tap and pay anywhere NFC is accepted.

Together with AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless, as well as their mobile payments company Softcard, Google will offer the
Google Wallet app - including the tap and pay functionality - pre-installed on Android phones (running KitKat or higher) sold by these carriers in the US later this year.

Google also acquired some technology and intellectual property from Softcard to make Google Wallet better.

Gogole's announcements is an example of how the competition between Google and Apple is extending beyond the technology industry's traditional boundaries.

Apple's rival service, Apple Pay, already comes embedded in the latest versions of the company's mobile software.

Just three months after Apple Pay's November debut, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the service accounted for two out of every three dollars spent across the three major U.S. card networks, when no card was used. About 2,000 banks and credit unions have agreed to offer Apple Pay to its customers. Apple hasn't said how many merchants are set up to handle its mobile payment services.

Samsung Electronics is also said to be ready to join the fray after buying a mobile payment startup called LoopPay. That deal, announced last week, fueled speculation that Samsung will include a digital wallet on its next phone, the Galaxy S6.