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Google's Android Pay Takes on Apple

 & Chloe Albanesius Executive Editor, News

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Google today provided a preview of its newest mobile payment option, dubbed Android Pay.

To pay, unlock your phone, and wave it over a payment terminal with support for Android Pay or NFC. An alert will confirm payment.

Android PayDuring a Google I/O keynote presentation today, Dave Burke, VP of Android engineering at Google, said Android Pay is "focused on simplicity, security, and choice."

On the security front, Burke said that Android Wear creates a virtual account number for each card, so your actual credit card number is not shared with retailers. Loyalty card information can be added to Android Pay and automatically applied at purchase.

Android Pay is supported by American Express, MasterCard, Visa, and Discover, as well as AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. It will work at over 700,000 stores, according to Burke, including Macy's, McDonald's, Nike, Best Buy, Subway, and Staples.

Android Pay will also work within apps that sell physical goods and services, like Lyft, Grubhub, and Groupon.

Look for Android Pay on Google Play "soon," Google said.

Meanwhile, Burke said the next version Android, currently dubbed Android M, will have standardized fingerprint support, which will work for Android Pay purchases. Burke pointed to an upcoming Target app, which will let you shop and pay for things with just your fingerprint.

Google has been working on mobile payments for awhile via Google Wallet, but Google Wallet did not have support from all the major U.S. carriers. Instead, Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint rallied around a competing platform, Isis (which later rebranded as Softcard to avoid association with the terrorist group).

Earlier this year, Google acquired Softcard technology and intellectual property, and now we have Android Pay.

According to Ars Technica, Google Wallet will live on, largely to let people keep balances and send money to one another.

Mobile payments have still been slow to take off in the U.S. We've seen some movement there, though, with the launch of Apple Pay on the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, and Apple Watch. In February, Samsung also purchased LoopPay and later rolled out Samsung Pay. See our hands on from MWC.

For more, check out PCMag's live blog from Google I/O.

About Our Expert

Chloe Albanesius

Chloe Albanesius

Executive Editor, News

My Experience

I started out covering tech policy in DC for The National Journal, where my beat included state-level tech news and all the congressional hearings and FCC meetings I could handle. I later covered Wall Street trading tech before switching gears to consumer tech. I now lead PCMag's news coverage.

My Areas of Expertise

Getting my start in DC means I still have a soft spot for tech policy; Congressional hearings can sometimes be as entertaining as a Bravo reality show, for better or worse. But PCMag is all about the technology we use every day, as well as keeping an eye out for the trends that will shape the industry in the years ahead (or flop on arrival). I've covered the rise of social media, the iOS vs. Android wars, the cord-cutting revolution that's now left us with hefty streaming bills, and the effort to stuff artificial intelligence into every product you could imagine. This job has taken me to CES in Vegas (one too many times), IFA in Berlin, and MWC in Barcelona. I also drove a Tesla 1,000 miles out west as part of our Best Mobile Networks project. Of late, my focus is on our hard-working team of reporters at PCMag, guiding and editing their robust coverage.

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