In a move that will undoubtedly create confusion among Android users, Google has unveiled its second attempt at creating a mobile payments service. The first attempt was Google Wallet, which was smothered in the crib by a coalition of wireless carriers that didn’t want Google to control the market. That’s why, despite being released years before, Google Wallet was demolished by Apple Pay. Google is determined to succeed the second time around, however, and will do so with a new service called Android Pay.
Today during its keynote, Google officially unveiled Android Pay as the successor to Google Wallet, it’s long standing attempt to break into the mobile payments market. Android Pay will power both in-app and tap-to-pay purchases on mobile devices. As for Google Wallet, it’ll still be around, but instead it will focus on accepting payments outside of the mobile web. Several partners have been announced with the new service, including the major credit and debit card issuers, MasterCard, Visa, American Express, and Discover. Android Pay will work exactly like Google Wallet, where you simply tap your smartphone to any NFC terminal in order to pay your bill. Your credit card information isn’t shared with the store, adding another layer of protection for the security conscious. While Android Pay was unveiled during Google’s big Android M developer preview, it was confirmed that the service will work on all devices on KitKat and above. Perhaps the biggest news for developers is that Android Pay will be available to developers to integrate payment functionality from the service into their own apps. Uber and Lyft are two examples of apps that will utilize Android Pay in the future, rather than relying on typing in credit card information.
