Google announced that Android Pay can now be used to pay for not just items in stores, but also within applications in the U.S., as promised at Google I/O earlier this year.
This move essentially gives Android Pay the old functionality of Google Wallet, which you could use to pay for things in the Play Store, but also within other apps, as long as developers embraced it.
However, Google Wallet never saw much adoption. Google hopes Android Pay will change that. This time, Android Pay also managed to build on the momentum of Apple Pay, which got many merchants interested in adopting mobile payment technology.
The merchants replaced their old point of sale systems with modern ones that can accept NFC transactions. They are also compatible with the EMV (Europay, MasterCard, and Visa) standard that Apple Pay and Android Pay are using to create virtual tokens for transactions.
Google said that there are now over one million locations across the U.S. that accept mobile payments, which shows that merchants and customers alike are interested in this type of technology to make shopping more convenient.
Now, Google is ready to move to the next step, which is allowing people to use their Android Pay accounts to pay for things within apps, as well. If your favorite apps already support Android Pay, you can buy from them simply by tapping once on the Android Pay button and then confirming the action and your information in one step before the purchase is done.
More apps should support Android Pay soon, but some, such as OpenTable and Lyft, already support it, and they also offer some discounts when using the option for a purchase.
In the first half of 2016, Google will bring Android Pay to Australia as well, and it will be supported everywhere NFC payments work, including at merchants such as 7-Eleven, McDonald's and Telstra. More countries should get Android Pay by the end of next year.
Developers interested in using the Android Pay for their physical products or services can visit Android Pay API web page.
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Lucian Armasu joined Tom’s Hardware in early 2014. He writes news stories on mobile, chipsets, security, privacy, and anything else that might be of interest to him from the technology world. Outside of Tom’s Hardware, he dreams of becoming an entrepreneur.
You can follow him at @lucian_armasu. Follow us on Facebook, Google+, RSS, Twitter and YouTube.
