By Chloe Albanesius May 29, 2015, 5 a.m.
Google today provided a preview of its newest mobile payment option, dubbed Android Pay.
To pay, unlock your phone, and wave it over a payment terminal with support for Android Pay or NFC. An alert will confirm payment.
During a Google I/O keynote presentation today, Dave Burke, VP of Android engineering at Google, said Android Pay is "focused on simplicity, security, and choice."
On the security front, Burke said that Android Wear creates a virtual account number for each card, so your actual credit card number is not shared with retailers. Loyalty card information can be added to Android Pay and automatically applied at purchase.
Android Pay is supported by American Express, MasterCard, Visa, and Discover, as well as AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. It will work at over 700,000 stores, according to Burke, including Macy's, McDonald's, Nike, Best Buy, Subway, and Staples.
Android Pay will also work within apps that sell physical goods and services, like Lyft, Grubhub, and Groupon.
Look for Android Pay on Google Play "soon," Google said.
Meanwhile, Burke said the next version Android, currently dubbed Android M, will have standardized fingerprint support, which will work for Android Pay purchases. Burke pointed to an upcoming Target app, which will let you shop and pay for things with just your fingerprint.
Google has been working on mobile payments for awhile via Google Wallet, but Google Wallet did not have support from all the major U.S. carriers. Instead, Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint rallied around a competing platform, Isis (which later rebranded as Softcard to avoid association with the terrorist group).
Earlier this year, Google acquired Softcard technology and intellectual property, and now we have Android Pay.
According to Ars Technica, Google Wallet will live on, largely to let people keep balances and send money to one another.
Mobile payments have still been slow to take off in the U.S. We've seen some movement there, though, with the launch of Apple Pay on the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, and Apple Watch. In February, Samsung also purchased LoopPay and later rolled out Samsung Pay. See our hands on from MWC.
To pay, unlock your phone, and wave it over a payment terminal with support for Android Pay or NFC. An alert will confirm payment.
During a Google I/O keynote presentation today, Dave Burke, VP of Android engineering at Google, said Android Pay is "focused on simplicity, security, and choice."On the security front, Burke said that Android Wear creates a virtual account number for each card, so your actual credit card number is not shared with retailers. Loyalty card information can be added to Android Pay and automatically applied at purchase.
Android Pay is supported by American Express, MasterCard, Visa, and Discover, as well as AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. It will work at over 700,000 stores, according to Burke, including Macy's, McDonald's, Nike, Best Buy, Subway, and Staples.
Android Pay will also work within apps that sell physical goods and services, like Lyft, Grubhub, and Groupon.
Look for Android Pay on Google Play "soon," Google said.
Meanwhile, Burke said the next version Android, currently dubbed Android M, will have standardized fingerprint support, which will work for Android Pay purchases. Burke pointed to an upcoming Target app, which will let you shop and pay for things with just your fingerprint.
Google has been working on mobile payments for awhile via Google Wallet, but Google Wallet did not have support from all the major U.S. carriers. Instead, Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint rallied around a competing platform, Isis (which later rebranded as Softcard to avoid association with the terrorist group).
Earlier this year, Google acquired Softcard technology and intellectual property, and now we have Android Pay.
According to Ars Technica, Google Wallet will live on, largely to let people keep balances and send money to one another.
Mobile payments have still been slow to take off in the U.S. We've seen some movement there, though, with the launch of Apple Pay on the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, and Apple Watch. In February, Samsung also purchased LoopPay and later rolled out Samsung Pay. See our hands on from MWC.
