Google Announces That Android Pay Is Finally Coming To Australia

This is Google catching up, as Apple Pay already supports in-app purchases.

Available for phones running Android 4.4 or later, customers will now gain the ability to pay for purchases in brick-and-mortar stores by using their increasingly-hand smartphone, working thanks to NFC.

The company said that over the next few months, users would start seeing more and more apps adding Android Pay. A new Android Pay promo has just been offered up by Google, and it’s something you’ll want to look into if you own a Nexus device. People who use Android Pay with OpenTable dining, for instance, will get $20 off their check.

“Aussies will be able to use Android Pay everywhere contactless payments are accepted”, an official Google statement said.

Foad Fadaghi, managing director of technology research firm Telsyte, said, “It’s a big bargaining chip for [Australian] banks to force a better deal with Apple”.

And it’s not an Apple Pay comes to Australia** a href=”http://www.techly.com.au/2015/10/28/apple-pay-finally-comes-to-australia-via-american-express-only/” class=”local_link” target=”_blank” *Apple was American Express.

They also note that Android 6.1 won’t be a major update but it should bring about some new features all the same, which we can only assume will tide users over until Android 7.0 is released (assuming that’s the number Google is going with). “We’re approaching Android Pay the same way we approach every other part of the Android family – partnering with the ecosystem”.

It was reported by the website that Apple is demanding 15 basis points in fees that the Australian banks have refused to share.

“The four Australian banks aren’t prepared to give up the amount of interchange fees that the US, Canadian and United Kingdom banks have done”, said Grant Halverson, a payments consultant from McLean Roche.

Google describe Android Pay like this: “With Android Pay, you simply unlock your phone, hold it to the terminal, and voila – your payment is done”.