A post on the official Google Australia blog revealed that the Android Pay mobile payment service is headed to the land down under in the first half of 2016.
This is the first confirmation regarding the rollout of Android Pay in Australia, which will allow Australians with compatible Android devices to keep their credit cards in their wallets and use their smartphones instead to pay for their purchases.
In the blog post, Google reiterated the simplicity of using Android Pay, as users only have to unlock their smartphones then hold them up to the payment terminal to complete the payment. Google also dedicated a section for the security of Android Pay, explaining that the service never reveals the payment information of users to merchant through tokenization. Any purchases made with Android Pay will send a confirmation to users, so that any suspicious activity can be caught instantly. Android Pay devices, if stolen, can also be locked or wiped clean through the Android Device Manager to protect the stored information.
Google said it is working with several major financial institutions in Australia such as ANZ, Bank of Melbourne, Bank of South Australia, Westpac, Cuscal, Macquarie Bank, Bendigo Bank, St. George and ING DIRECT, with the company looking to establish partnerships with more banks throughout next year.
Android Pay in Australia will be supporting both Mastercard and Visa credit cards and debit cards, and Google said it is also working with eftpos to have Android Pay support their cards.
Users would be able to choose Android Pay as their payment option for all stores that accept contactless payments, with Google stating that many of the leading retailers in Australia are supporting Android Pay's launch. Included in the list of retailers are 7-Eleven, Domino's Pizza, McDonald's, Telstra, Brumby's Bakery, Coles Supermarkets, Coles Express, Crust Gourmet Pizza, Donut King, Michel's Patisserie, Gloria Jean's Coffees and Pizza Capers.
Android Pay will also be available for fast checkout in Australian apps so that users will no longer have to enter their payment and address information for every purchase. The apps where Android Pay will be supported upon its launch are EatNow, Kogan.com, Catch of the Day, GoCatch, OzSale, Menulog, The Iconic and Rewardle.
Merchants that would like to support Android Pay can visit the API developer website of the service to learn how to do so for the purchase of customers of physical goods and service within apps. Google said it is teaming up with developers such as Marketplacer and LOKE to integrate Android Pay into apps from brands such as House of Home, Burger Edge and Messina.
