18 May 2016

NEWS: Android Pay now available in the UK


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!



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