What's New in Payments

Google’s mobile payments app has now been installed 100m times

Google Pay hits 100m installs on the Play Store — Android Police — “100m is impressive, but it may not be nearly as impressive as you’re imagining. For instance, Google Pay uses the same Play Store listing and APK pname (com.google.android.apps.walletnfcrel) as Android Pay, which Android Pay continued to use from Google Wallet. Additionally, Google Wallet/Android Pay/Google Pay has been pre-installed on quite a few devices.”


Transit Ticketing Today

Google Pay expands support for transit ticketing cards to Portland

Google Pay now supports Hop Fastpass transit tickets in Portland, Oregon — Android Police — “To use Google Pay to pay for transit in Portland, users must first download the Hop Fastpass app and add money to create a virtual card. Once the virtual card is set up, holding your phone up the reader will work the same as with a regular Hop card.”


What's New in Payments

Google expands support for wearable payments to Canada, Spain, and Australia

Google Pay on Wear OS officially spreads to three new countries — Android Police — “In addition to using NFC-equipped watches to make regular mobile payments, users in Australia can use their Wear OS devices with the Opal ticketing system to pay for single-trip tickets on select rail and ferry lines… Formerly, Google’s payment service was only supported on Android Wear (now Wear OS) devices in the US and the UK.”


What's New in Payments

Google to let users send money directly from their Google Contacts app?

Google Contacts adds ability to send money via Google Pay Send — Android Police — “Back in November, Google added money transfers to Android Messages via Google Wallet (now known as Google Pay Send). We noticed some strings in our teardown of the Google Contacts app last week that suggested the same addition would be coming soon, and it’s now hit at least one reader in Canada.”


What's New in Payments

Google to bring payments to Android Messages texting app?

Android Messages v2.9 prepares to launch Allo-like web interface, Google-enhanced chat features, and payments to businesses [APK Teardown] — Android Police — “Some new text in the app indicates that Google is going to angle Android Messages to also support purchases. The theme of the new strings is fairly unmistakable, including common consumer terms like ‘checkout and ‘order summary’. Another key clue is the activity where these are displayed, which is named messaging.ui.businesspayments.PaymentsSummaryActivity.”


Samsung to include iris scanning and face recognition combo in Galaxy S9?

Galaxy S9 may feature ‘Intelligent Scan’, a combination of iris scanning and facial recognition — Android Police — “After some digging around in Samsung’s settings app, a developer and AP reader reached out to us about his discovery of something called ‘Intelligent Scan’… It sounds like Intelligent Scan will combine the sometimes-limited information the iris scanner and your front camera can each extract to piece together a fuller picture of whoever is trying to unlock the phone.”


What's New in Payments

Google is running a massive Android Pay promo in Australia with 200,000 prizes worth $1.6 million

Google is running a massive Android Pay promo in Australia with 200,000 prizes worth $1.6 million — Android Police — “The gist is that you must be setting up Android Pay for the first time, or you must have set up a card previously but never used it. When you set up a new card in Australia or use your existing card for the first time, you will kick off a 30-day promo. Each transaction (up to 10 per day) gives you a virtual envelope, which could award you up to $500 in gift cards when opened.”


What's New in Payments

Android Pay v1.22 prepares Visual ID facial recognition based on Hands Free and reveals testing for Brazil, Trinidad & Tobago, and Canada

Android Pay v1.22 prepares Visual ID facial recognition based on Hands Free and reveals testing for Brazil, Trinidad & Tobago, and Canada — Android Police — “Visual ID is a secure way to confirm your identity at participating stores, making it easier to do things like earn loyalty points and redeem rewards”