Watch out, Apple Pay. Google on Monday announced that its Google Wallet app will come pre-installed on Android phones sold by AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon in the U.S. later this year.
Google is also acquiring "some exciting technology and intellectual property" from the mobile payments company Softcard.
The Google Wallet app will be available on all devices running Android 4.4 KitKat or higher. It includes Google's tap-and-pay functionality, first introduced back in 2011, which can be used anywhere NFC-based mobile payments are accepted.
"Over the years, we've received great feedback from people who use this feature and we've continued investing to make it easy and secure for more people to pay with their phones," Google's Vice President of Payments, Ariel Bardin, wrote in a blog post. "A big part of this is working with other innovators in the industry to help provide a seamless experience across a wide range of phones and stores."
Besides letting you pay for items with a simple tap of your device, the app lets you store loyalty and gift cards as well as easily send money to your friends.
The Softcard acquisition, meanwhile, is part of an effort "to make Google Wallet better." The move follows rumors earlier this year that Google was interested in acquiring Softcard outright.
Softcard, formerly known as Isis, sprung up a few years ago as a collaboration between AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile to centralize mobile payments around a single, easy solution. Around 200,000 retailers in the U.S. currently accept Softcard-based mobile payments via the company's single Android and Windows Phone app. Unfortunately, the rise of the terrorist group Isis forced the company to re-brand as Softcard.
For more, see PCMag's full review of Google Wallet and our article on Why Google Wallet Has Been a Failure.