AllThingsD's Liz Gannes says Google, frustrated by the fact that no one really cares about NFC or wireless payments yet, was preparing to just throw up its hands and make a plastic card. Like all of the other plastic cards we've been using since the advent of the plastic card. Now that plan's over with.

The call, says ATD, was made by Google CEO Larry Page, after the glitchy cards—which would hypothetically draw funds from your Google Wallet when you swiped—frustrated him for the last time. They just didn't work. But more importantly, Page thought the cards were just lazy—rather than trying to push wireless payment, which is really the whole conceit of Google Wallet, issuing Google-branded cards like every other bank in the world would be settling. There wouldn't be anything interesting about it, or any compelling reason to use a Google card over any other card—especially since the whole plot was just "part of Google’s larger strategic goal to know more about consumer purchases." That means learn what you buy, and then advertise that stuff to you.

No one will be bummed that this is not happening.