Published in Mobiles

Google spills the beans on Android Pay

by on29 May 2015


Easier than fruit

Google has been talking about its Android Pay system which it wants to use to bring a new secure payment option to Android users.


Google's VP of Engineering for Android, Dave Burke, said that "Android Pay is focused on simplicity, security, and choice." Using Android Pay will be quite simple.


If you have an older phone it will work through NFC and Host Card emulations and on new devices users will be able to authorize payments through their fingerprint.

All you have to do is switch on your phone and set it on the scanner, and the payment is made. Once a card is entered it will create a virtual card number.

Google is working with financial institutions to enable payment support, and they are also working with carriers as well. Android Pay will work at more than 7000 stores that already support contactless payments. It will be interesting to see if Google is better at doing this than Apple has been.

Users will be able to make in-app payments using the service for apps like Uber, Groupon, Lyft and a variety of others.

Google is also working on something called Google Hands free. It will be field-tested in the coming years at McDonald's and Papa John's locations in the San Francisco Bay Area.

It will be used in drive-through situations as occasions where even tap-and-pay functionality on a phone is a bit too complicated. It showed a video in which a woman carrying a baby in line at McDonald's says she'd “like to pay with Google.” The McDonald's cashier promptly completes the transaction without any device moving between them.

Here it is in action:

 

 

Last modified on 29 May 2015
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