Android Pay Officially Launched

The wait has ended, Google’s new payment service has arrived. Google has finally launched Android Pay officially after showing off the service at I/O earlier this year. It says that this is the most simple and secure way to pay with your Android phone at more than one million locations across the United States. It not only works with debit and credit cards, Android Pay stores gift cards, loyalty cards and provides special offers right on the phone.

Google says that Android Pay will be rolling out gradually over the next couple of days and that this is just the beginning, it will add more features down the road, support more banks and merchants in the coming months.

All Android devices with NFC radios running Android 4.4 KitKat or above support Android Pay at all tap and pay ready locations across the United States. Currently it supports credit and debit cards from American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa.

This covers cards from most major banks and credit unions, Capital One is coming soon, Citi and Wells Fargo will be available in a couple of days. Later this year Android Pay will also support mobile checkout in third-party applications.

Existing Google Wallet users will be able to access Android Pay through an update to the Wallet app, new users can download Android Pay from the Google Play Store in the next few days. The app will come pre-installed on new NFC-equipped Android phones from AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: Android Pay, Google