Android Pay, Google’s successor to Google Wallet, was released last year at Google I/O in the U.S. Unfortunately, it’s been slow to gain traction around the rest of the world. That’s about to change as the company announced that Android Pay is now available at select merchants in the UK.
Android Pay will support MasterCard and Visa credit and debit cards from many of the UK’s major financial institutions — including Bank of Scotland, First Direct, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, M&S Bank, MBNA and Nationwide Building Society — with new banks being added all the time.
Android Pay will be accepted at stores where contactless payments are accepted and include businesses in the UK like Aldi, Boots, Starbucks, Greggs, Waitrose, KFC, Costa, Pret, and even allow users to tap and pay with Transport for London (TfL) for bus and train fares.
Google definitely seems to be playing catchup however as Apple Pay is available in more countries around the world, and also launched last week in Canada – another country which is still waiting for Android Pay. The contactless payment service was expected to come to Canada sometime this spring, but that hasn’t happened yet causing many Canadian Android users to cry foul and proclaim that #GoogleHatesCanada.
What do you think about Android Pay launching in the UK? What do you think of the slow rollout to other countries around the world? Let us know in the comments below, or on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook.
[button link=”http://officialandroid.blogspot.ca/2016/03/tap-pay-uk.html” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: Official Android Blog[/button]