Card
fumble no more.
Android
users! If you've ever been stuck behind someone in a queue as they
fiddle with their iPhone, using Apple Pay to buy their groceries,
(and quietly mouthed 'What a dick'), that can now be you! Yay!
Android Pay, Google's answer to the increasingly popular phone-based
contactless payment option, has launched on these Britannic shores
and can be yours... depending on your phone and bank.
Obviously
your smartphone requires NFC for the app to work, and also you need
to be with one of the participating banks to upload your card
details. HSBC, Llyods, Bank of Scotland, First Direct, Marks and
Spencer, and Nationwide are all onboard at time of launch, while
NatWest, Barclays, RBS, and TSB users will have to wait. In fact,
Barclays account holders may never get it, as the bank is apparently
working on a contactless payment app of its own. Soz, mate.
If
you're a little nervous about uploading your payment card details to
an app, Google has been stressing just how safe and secure Android
Pay is. "Security is at the centre of Android Pay. With industry
standard tokenisation, Android Pay doesn’t send merchants your real
card number when you purchase," says Pali Bhat, senior director
of product management at Google.
So,
if you're up for it, and both you phone and your bank say yes, you
should be able to get going straight away, with all normal
contactless payment points automatically accepting Android Pay.
Go
and buy stuff immediately, you sheep!