Back in 2015, Google launched a Hands Free payment service with the pilot going live in 2016. For those unfamiliar, the idea behind Hands Free is that when a customer walks into a store, through the use of Bluetooth and location services, it would detect if the user was inside a store that supported the payments service.From there all the customer had to do when making the payment was confirm their initials with the cashier and match their identity based on their profile picture and they’d be good to go. As it name implies, it was pretty hands free. However it looks like Google has decided to shut the program down and instead choose to focus on Android Pay moving forward.
In an email Google sent to those participating in the pilot, “Based on all the positive feedback, we’re now working to bring the best of the technology to even more people and stores. To focus our efforts, we’ll be shutting down the Hands Free app on February 8. You won’t be able to pay with Hands Free after that, so be sure to redeem any unused rewards before then.”
They also ask that customers use Android Pay instead of they want a quick and easy way of making payments. “In the meantime, we encourage you to start enjoying quick, easy checkout with Android Pay. If you set it up and try it at any store within the next 2 weeks, we’ll give you a $10 Whole Foods gift card.”
Filed in . Read more about Android Pay and Google.