Google Wallet is taking a massive beating from Apple Pay despite being in the mobile payments game for far longer. No longer wanting to suffer this embarrassment, Google has been rumored to be working on an entirely new mobile payments platform called Android Pay, which the company confirmed early today at MWC 2015 in Barcelona.
We have recently been hearing whispers that Google has a new payments initiative up its sleeve for which it also acquired Softcard. Today the company has finally confirmed Android Pay. Google’s Sundar Pichai explained that Android Pay is not a service itself, rather its an “API layer” which will enable other companies to support secure payments on Android both online and at brick and mortar locations. Sundar Pichai was speaking today at the Mobile World Congress 2015 in Barcelona. There he also talked about the company’s plans for a new wireless carrier and its work with Titan Aerospace, a company it acquired last year.
As far as Android Pay is concerned Pichai said that the aim really is to allow other people to build a payments service on top of Android. “So, in places like China and Africa we hope that people will use Android Pay to build innovative services,” he said.
