Android Pay Now Available

With Android dominating the worldwide mobile operating system market share with a total of 80.7% (Source: Gartner February 2016), Android pay arriving in the UK last month is a fantastic step in the right direction for mobile payments. While it has been live in the US for a while now having worked with roughly 700,000 retailers at launch in the US, Android Pay was only made available to the UK last month on May 18th.

It launched with support from numerous banks and credit card companies, as well as major UK retailers and service providers. Android Pay is accepted anywhere that you can use contactless payments, some retailers supporting Android Pay include Superdrug, Costa and Aldi. The service can even be used on the London transport network. Unfortunately, Barclays does not support the service as it currently runs its own service called Contactless Mobile.

While Android Pay could not be simpler to use, with experience from developing Google Wallet it also means that its online payment system is very advanced and secure. Android pay requires you to download the Android Pay app, as well as have a smartphone running Android 4.4 KitKat or later. Near field communications (NFC), will allow users to pay for goods and services anywhere with a contactless payment terminal. Just like Apple Pay, most retailers will only allow payments up to £30 using your phone.

Google will also have an offer system called Android Pay Day. Starting this month, on the last Tuesday of every month, users will receive special offers from supporting partners like Starbucks and Deliveroo.