A little over a month ago, Google revealed its plans to unify all of its different payment services under one name: Google Pay. Today, we're seeing the end result of those efforts, as the new Google Pay app has officially launched on the Play Store. Say goodbye to Android Pay, because mention of it has been wiped from the Play Store and - once you update the app - from your phone as well.
Google isn’t exactly known for always having a coherent product message and lineup. Just take a look at its current mess of messaging apps and services, not to mention those that it already retired. To a lesser extent, that is the same situation with its mobile payment systems, previously comprised of Android Pay, Google Wallet, and, if you’re in India, Tez. “Previously”, because Google is now combining two of those, namely Android Pay and Google Wallet, into a single “Google Pay” brand to reduce, or increase, confusion.
The Android Pay version of the changing of the Google Logo on Google dot com has arrived in a super suit. For the first time in the history of electronic wallets (AKA mobile payments), a comic book company is promoting consumerism. From now until the 31st of December, the Justice League will be flying around the Android Pay app, and they'll be catchable, like Pokemon.
Despite the fact that services like Apple Pay and Android Pay make mobile checkout a brick and mortar stores a breeze, paying online using your mobile device can still be something of a headache. Recognizing this issue, Google set out to fix it by introducing its Google Payment API back in May. Now that developers have had about five months to implement this API, Google is rolling out a new service called - what else? - "Pay with Google."
“Good thing comes to those who wait” or “better late than never”. Those are probably the two overused aphorisms that come to mind when thinking of promised features that seemingly fell off the radar before suddenly and finally landing in users’ hands. That is definitely the case with the Visa Checkout support on Android Pay, which is reported to now be rolling out to some users, almost exactly a year after it was announced.
Wells Fargo has announced that it is upgrading more than 5,000 of its ATMs with support for NFC-based mobile payment systems including Android Pay and Apple Pay. The 5,000 figure represents only about 40-percent of the bank's ATMs; Wells Fargo says it plans to bring the support to more than 13,000 of its ATMs by the 2019.
Android Pay just got a bit more capable thanks to the addition of support for another 40 banks and credit unions located throughout the United States. Given that all the major banks support the Android Pay platform by now (in the U.S., at least), it isn't surprising that this latest expansion marks the addition of many smaller, more regional and lesser known entities.
While Android Pay has been available in the US for several years now, our northern neighbors in Canada can now finally make use of the mobile payments system. Google officially began rolling out Android Pay in the country earlier this week, including support for a number of banks, shops, and restaurants. The good news is that it will work at almost of the tap-to-pay terminals across Canada, but there are a few big name banks to take note of that haven't offered support yet.
PayPal and Android Pay will soon play nicely together, it has been revealed, with Android Pay users being able to tie their PayPal accounts to the mobile payment system. PayPal users have been requesting this feature for a while, and now it appears to be rolling out, though not all users are seeing it at this time. Once linked together, the PayPal account appears as a payment option within the Android Pay app.
Google is turning the Google Assistant into a personal bank teller for sending and receiving payments, potentially lighting a fire underneath Venmo and Square Cash. Set to roll out as an update over the next few months, it'll allow for direct person-to-person transactions, like when you need to settle up a split check for dinner. The news comes as Google expands Android Pay to a number of new markets.
Android Pay is about to get a whole new payment method, with PayPal announcing that it'll soon be an option rather than your credit or debit card. The integration is expected to launch in the US within the next few weeks, initially only for existing balances already in a PayPal account. However, that will be enhanced over the coming months, the payments provider says.
The second Huawei Watch (or Huawei Watch 2, as it's called), appeared this week at Mobile World Congress 2017. We had the opportunity to get up close and personal with several versions of the watch - colors and buttons and all - to see what the company has in mind for the second big wave of Android Wear watch hardware this year. Can Huawei pair what they call "Classic Watch Styles" with smartwatch abilities successfully?