Androids Answer to Apple Pay Is Launching Today
Google's revamped mobile payments system is launching Thursday. , The search giant announced in a blog post that Android Pay is rolling out at more than one million U.S. locations, including Subway, GameStop and Rite-Aid. , The new feature uses the NFC chip in Android phones to communicate with point-of-sale systems at physical stores. When enabled, users only need to wave their phones at a cash register and confirm their purchase with a button press to complete a transaction. , Android Pay will be compatible with the four major credit cards Visa, American Express, Discover and MasterCard and a number of major banks, including Bank of America, PNC and Regions Bank. Both debit and credit card information can be loaded onto a phone to make use of Android Pay. , Google is planning to add the ability to conduct online mobile payments using Android Pay later this year, as well as expand the number of participating physical stores and banks. , With Android Pay, Google is competing head-on with Apple Pay, the mobile payments system that debuted on the iPhone 6. Google's previous payments system, called Google Wallet, failed to gain widespread traction. It has been recast as a way to make digital payments to friends, similar to Venmo or PayPal.