Android Pay has been announced at Google IO 2015 and it looks like everything we’ve been waiting for. It builds on NFC and HCE protocols that have been used on Android phones for a while now, so there’s nothing new in that. There are 1,000’s of Android Pay partner apps and more to be announced soon. Android Pay as all about three things; Simplicity, Security & Choice.
When paying with Android Pay, you use a virtual account number, never sharing your actual card details with terminals. This sounds a lot like Visa’s Token system, as used by Apple Pay. You can use existing debit/credit cards with Android Pay so no need to order a new card just for Android Pay either.
For now, Android Pay is only working with US carriers, but we hope it reaches Australia soon. Android Pay will work at 700,000 stores in the US that accept contactless payments. You can also use Android Pay to purchase products and services in-app, this confirms a previous rumour we heard about Android Pay. Fingerprint support, also announced for Android M, can be used to authorise Android Pay purchases, both in Google Play and other apps.
Android Pay is going to be released worldwide, starting with the release of Android M which comes out later this year.
Anyone else as excited for Android Pay as we are? We hope it is opened up for other carriers worldwide soon!
