| Monday, 29 February 2016 16:17 |
Android Pay set for UK launch
Google system poised to joint highly competitive m-payments market
Google is reported to be planning a UK launch for its Android Pay NFC mobile payments service at the end of March.
The reports follow Samsung's announcement this month that it will launch its Samsung Pay service in the UK and Spain later this year (although Samsung is declining to confirm when). Rival Apple Pay has had almost a year’s head start having launched in the UK last July.
The number of m-payment methods in the highly competitive UK market is likely to grow further this year with Vocalink’s Zapp Pay by Bank payments method also planning a launch in 2016.
Android Pay finally launched in the US last September, a year after its originally schedules rollout. It works on all NFC-enabled Android devices and at NFC contactless enabled POS. All the Android devices running KitKat 4.4 and above are NFC enabled.
The number of contactless payment transactions surged in the UK in 2015 to just over one billion (up 228% on 2014), according to the UK Cards Association said.
Google declined to comment on a UK launch date for Android Pay. |
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