In addition to Google's next Android operating system, which has been named Android M, the tech giant unveiled its upcoming mobile payment platform that will take on Apple and its contactless payment system called Apple Pay. Unveiling of Android Pay took place at Google I/O 2015, which happens to be the company's annual developers' conference. According to CNET, a fingerprint scanner will initially not be introduced, since the payment system will take some time to be integrated in to mobile applications.
For the time being, Android Pay will function through a PIN code, password, or a pattern to authenticate a transaction. While some Android smartphone users may be skeptical to using the feature, the website states that cardholder's details are not saved on the retailer's server, making the transaction completely secure.
Furthermore, a process called tokenization provides an additional layer of security to preserve credit and debit card details. When a user is in the process of making a transaction, the retailer will be receiving the credit or debit card numbers for just a single time only, instead of the user's actual account number. Through this approach, if there does happen to be a credit card data breach, the real information will always remain secure.
According to Wired, Google's Vice President of engineering Dave Burke states that more than 700,000 physical stores and 1,000 mobile apps will allow smartphone users to conduct transactions all across the United States. Google has raised the bar with Android Pay because unlike Google Wallet, this mobile payment system lets users collect rewards for purchases. Initially, only a small percentage of retailers will support loyalty rewards that will be tracked within Android Pay, but that number is expected to proliferate in the near future.
Redeeming rewards take place in real-time, so consumers will not have to worry about not receiving points. Android Pay is expected to be fully functional by Q3, 2015.
