Apple Pay contender Google’s Android Pay launches in the U.S.

On Thursday, Google announced its official launch of its own mobile payment platform, Android Pay. The service will be available in select U.S. retail stores later this month.

“Today we’re starting to roll out Android Pay, bringing our next generation mobile payments platform to Android users across the US,” said Pali Bhat, Google’s director of product management for Android Pay on the Official Android blog.

With Android Pay going live, Google Wallet, Google's other NFC payment app, will be getting a major overhaul. Android Pay will replace the current Google Wallet app on Google Play, and Google will re-launch a new Wallet app focused on peer-to-peer payments.

Android Pay is a contender of Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. Like the two mobile payments, Google’s mobile payment app relies on near-field communication (NFC) enabled point of sale terminals (POS). Its distinguishing feature lies with its ability for mobile checkouts if users want to make In-App purchases with favorite Android apps. However, this feature is yet to surface later this year.

The partner banks of the Android Pay include the US Bank, American Express, Regions Bank, USAA Bank, Navy Federal Credit Union and PNC. Citi, Capital One, Wells Fargo and more banks are coming soon.

For security purposes, Google’s mobile payment platform is supported by industry standard tokenisation and fingerprint verification. Through this, the real credit or debit card number isn't sent or transferred to the store with the payment transaction. Instead, a virtual account number is sent to the retailer providing an extra layer of security for its users. A payment confirmation is then sent to the user to show where a particular transaction happened. Further, the user can instantly lock its Android phone from anywhere if the gadget is lost or stolen.

U.S. users can make transactions with Android Pay today at stores like Subway, McDonald's, Staples, Macy's, Foot Locker and dozens of others. Google says Android Pay will soon be accepted at over a million store locations across the US, and in over 1000 Android apps. The app will be an automatic upgrade for existing Google Wallet users, according to Android Police. New users can download Android Pay in the next few weeks and will arrive preloaded on upcoming NFC-enabled handsets distributed by AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile.

Disclaimer: IBTimes Australia will not be liable for any damages that the readers may incur should they try to execute the apk provided in this article to update the mobile payment, Google Wallet.

iPhone Apple Pay (Credit: YouTube/Apple)

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