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As we get ready to wear out our credit cards buying gifts for family, friends, coworkers, and probably ourselves, it's a good time to talk about Google Pay and what's in store for it in the future. Unfortunately, we won't be building on the holiday shopping theme with any of the teardown topics, but at least there are a couple of cool features that might get us feeling a little more festive about spending our hard-earned cash with our phones.
As we've learned over the past few years, having a Google service available in your country isn't enough to use it on all your devices. Google Pay, for example, is supported for in-store payments in twenty countries, but only if you're using your phone to make the transaction. If you have a Wear OS smartwatch, however, the Google Pay app won't show up on the watch unless you're in a few countries. At first, the feature came to the US and UK, then it spread to Spain, Canada, and Australia, followed by Poland and Russia. The latest country to join the ranks is Germany.
Since Google rebranded Android Pay as Google Pay, the app has seen a number of useful changes to bring it in line with competing services and make it more useful. The addition of transit passes will be great for users who have season tickets and don't want to use a separate payment card when they travel, for example. Passbook on iOS is always something I've been envious of, but we recently learned that boarding passes and event tickets would be coming to Google Pay in much the same vein. This integration is now live for at least one airline.
It wasn't that long ago that Google Pay (and its previous names) was solely focused on making purchases in a store or paying on the spot to get onto subways...and sometimes sending money to friends. Google recently added support for one-time transit tickets on the Las Vegas Monorail and prepaid commuter cards with the TriMet in Portland, Oregon, but things are about to get a lot more interesting thanks to the latest update. We can expect to see support added for airport boarding passes and event tickets. There are several other big additions coming, too, so let's get straight into it.
It's been almost three months since Android Pay was replaced by Google Pay, but the new name still sounds so foreign. In an attempt to alleviate that and introduce more users, Google is running a promotion in which you and someone you refer both get $10 in Play credit once the referred party makes a purchase. Bear in mind that this promo is still running (and ends at the same time).
Every once in a while, Android Pa... er... Google Pay adds support for more banks and credit unions. Just a few days ago, 61 new US banks and credit unions were added to Google Pay. This time, the list of additions is much smaller, but still worthy of mention.
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- Google has finally made a formal announcement that helps to explain what we observed going on with Huawei Watch 2 users and Google Pay support outside the US and UK: starting today, Wear OS users in Canada, Spain, and Australia can all conduct tap-and-pay transactions with their NFC-equipped smartwatches.
When the Oreo update landed for Huawei's Watch 2 back in February, many reported that it was disabling Google Pay (then called Android Pay). One month and one rebranding later, this issue seems to have been fixed. There are reports that something in the last few days has re-enabled Google's rebranded NFC payments for the Watch 2.
It's been a busy year so far for Google's payment platforms, especially since Android Pay, Google Wallet, and Chrome's payment autofill feature were unified under new Google Pay branding. Previous Android Pay functionality is unchanged in the app, which allows you to add payment options from a wide range of banks and credit unions.
The first update to the Google Pay app since the rebranding has been making its way out into the world. The new version doesn't appear to bring any visible changes beyond a few pixel-level adjustments, but it includes a couple of neat topics for a teardown. We'll briefly discuss the imminent merger of Google Pay Send, then dive into the subject of supporting transit tickets, where they might be supported first, and some of the other quirky details to look forward to.
HSBC is one of the largest banks in the world, sitting ahead of Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup, and right behind JPMorgan Chase. It's one of the few names we know here that also has a presence in Australia. HSBC's Australian branch has just begun to support Andr- I mean, Google Pay.
Google announced earlier today that it's taking the plunge with the Google Pay branding, meaning the Android Pay and Google Wallet names and branding are officially canned. To go along with the shift, a new version of the Android Pay...err, Google Pay app is rolling out with an updated look. It's going to take a little while to get used to that name. There are also some clues about what's to come, but we'll get to that in the teardown.
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A couple of months back, Google introduced a brand new mobile payments app exclusive to India. The country's banking landscape is a little different to many of the territories that currently have access to Android Pay, and so it needed a different approach. Until now, Tez has only been able to pay participating merchants or transfer between users, but it will soon be possible to pay utility bills, too.
If you've got a Huawei Watch 2, you may want to hold off installing the new Oreo update for now. According to users on reddit, the update appears to disable the Android Pay app on watches that are outside the US or UK, even though Android Pay works in several other countries, including Australia and Canada.
Even with the tremendous amount of banks and credit unions already participating in Android Pay, there will always be even more to join in the fun. Case in point: 80 new banks and credit unions in the US have just been added to Google's support page, making the first mass addition in 2018 a big one.
Android Pay launched in June of last year in Taiwan with only 2 banks under its wings: Chinatrust Bank and First Bank. Since then, it has expanded to more institutions including Cathay United, Union Bank, Shin Kong, Standard Chartered, Taishin International, E.SUN Commercial, Entie Commercial, Hua Nan, and it's now making its way to HSBC as well. According to the Android Pay page, all HSBC VISA and Mastercard credit cards can now be added to the Android Pay app in Taiwan, allowing you to use them for store and online purchases with merchants.
Google offers various ways to pay for things on devices and the web, and all these transactions fall into one of several products buckets. It's a bit confusing, but Google is streamlining its payment branding today with the launch of Google Pay. Android Pay, Google Wallet, and even Chrome autofill payment info will be unified under this brand. As for when—this is happening right now. Some people already see hints of Google Pay on their devices.
It's been a long time coming, but it appears that you can now add your PayPal Business Debit Mastercard to Android Pay. That means holders of this debit card can finally enjoy that sweet unlimited 1% cash back on eligible purchases when making contactless payments with their Android smartphone.
Android Pay is a nifty way to make purchases at supported retailers. At a minimum, it lets you eschew the wallet in your back pocket for the phone in your front when picking up a pack of gum. And now two more banks in Spain and Poland have added support for the service.
If you have a Chase Freedom credit card and you like free money, you will want to take advantage of their latest quarterly cash back offer. In addition to some of their usual categories of bonus points purchases — in this case, gas stations and cable/internet service — any purchases via mobile wallets will earn you 5% cash back.