The guessing game as to where Android Pay will launch next is over (at least for this round). Google has announced that Australia is the 4th country where the contactless smartphone payment system is now available, after the US, the UK, and Singapore. While the list of supporting banks and financial institutions is already pretty long, three of the “Big Four” aren’t currently on board, which may be a stumbling block towards the adaption of Android Pay in this country.
After you download the app and enter in all the pertinent details, there is no need to open the app every time you want to pay since it is already baked into the system. All you have to do is unlock your device and tap it into the store’s contactless terminal and payment has been made. Aside from stores, you will also eventually be able to use the system to make app transactions as well. You won’t need to input your credit card information or log in to your PayPal account. Just hit the Android Pay icon and it will finish the purchase.
All you need of course is an Android device running Kitkat and higher and that has NFC support. You will also need to have a card or account with any of the participating banks which already includes ANZ (one of the big four in Australia), American Express, Macquarie, etc. Only those banks that have American Express or Visa can use Android Pay, but MasterCard and EFTPOS will be coming soon. As to the 3 other major banks, no news yet.
Android Pay of course faces competition from Samsung Pay and Apple Pay but has the distinct advantage of having more devices available. Security is not an issue so far, as some deem it safer than the regular credit card transactions since it uses industry standard tokenization. Let’s see how it will do in the Australian market.
VIA: SMH
