Google Wallet is losing a lot of money, according to BusinessWeek. Maybe this spells doom for the project, but I doubt it. In fact, my guess is that this is a reason why Google Wallet has the advantage.

Here’s the gist of the report:

The company has dedicated hundreds of developers to Wallet and spent about $300 million to acquire digital payment startups to help develop the app. But consumers aren’t sold. Wallet has been downloaded fewer than 10 million times in the two years since its launch, according to Play, Google’s app store.

As Bloomberg notes, the aim for Google is in large part just the data that this generates. So is the high cost of doing business a sign that Google might give up? Unlikely.

My guess is that Google, like me, is bullish on mobile payments as a trend, despite slow adoption. Given that, being Google – and therefore being able to sustain significant losses for long periods of time – is a huge advantage. If you’re, say, LevelUp, you can’t afford to go on forever without making money. To the extent that it’s a waiting game, Google will win.

Now, it’s not just a waiting game. Product and features matter, too. But Google’s got advantages there as well. In May, the company announced the option to email money, combining Google Wallet and Gmail. (Square soon copied.)

It’s impossible to guess who will prevail in the mobile payment war, but I wouldn’t bet against Google, especially not based on the fact that mobile payments loses money.