Google confirms Android Pay UK launch announcing Nationwide, HSBC and more as partners
Google has confirmed that Andriod Pay, it's digital wallet service, will launch in the UK "in the next few months".
Though the tech giant is keeping schtum about the exact date, it confirmed the app's UK arrival in a blog post published today (23 March) naming a host of banks, including HSBC, Nationwide, Halifax, and Bank of Scotland among the launch partners.
The system will support MasterCard and Visa credit and debit cards issued by these UK banks across the wide range of UK retailers who already have contactless payment systems in place including Aldi, Boots, Costa and Starbucks. Londoners will also be able to use Andriod Pay to top up their Oyster Card, with TfL listed among the tap-to-pay providers. Rival Apple Pay has had particular success with public transport payments, with twice as many users paying for a ride on the tube via their phone than using it to pay for lunch.
One bank notably absent was Barclays, which only just confirmed plans to join Apple Pay at the start of this year after evading the service.
Andoird users can also use Pay to make in-app purchases, meaning customers don't have to input their card details when buying things on mobile, to support this function it's partnered platforms and processors such as Stripe, Worldpay and Judo.
"Adding Android users to the mix of devices which support secure in-app payments, in addition to Apple Pay, levels the playing field for both core mobile platforms," said Dennis Jones, chief executive at Judo Payments.
“With Android’s 54 per cent estimated market share in the UK, we’re going to see a huge rise in people making payments on the move and in-store with just a tap of their mobile," he added.