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Google just made online payments a whole lot easier. In February, the company announced it’s combining all of its different payment methods into one unified brand, called Google Pay. The Android Pay app is now being rebranded to Google Pay, and the Google Wallet app is now called Google Pay Send. Eventually, the Google Pay app will also have peer-to-peer transactions, allowing users to send and receive money.
Here is everything you need to know about Google Pay, including the places and banks that support it.
Google Pay Tickets
Google Pay Tickets is the newest feature to make its way to Google Pay. Announced at the 2018 Google I/O conference, Google Pay Tickets allows you to store mobile boarding passes and event tickets within the app.
Currently only a handful of companies including Southwest Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Southwest, Eventbrite, and FortessGB are participating in the rollout, however you should see many more firms add the feature in the coming months.
To store passes or tickets on Google Pay Tickets you can either select the “Send ticket to my phone” option from participating websites or elect the same option via email from companies that support Google Pay Tickets.
Widespread adoption
While there are plenty of digital payment methods out there for you to pick from, it makes sense that you’d want to back the right horse. The sheer number of users is as good an indicator as any, and Google Pay has that covered after hitting 100 million downloads on the Google Play Store. At the time of writing, Samsung Pay has 50 million-plus downloads, while LG Pay has yet to even make its debut on the Play Store, putting Google’s payment system rather far ahead of the competition.
Of course, it’s slightly unfair to say that it was Google’s branding that did all the heavy lifting, since Google Pay inhabits the same Play Store space as Android Pay, and the download counter would count anyone who downloaded it as Android Pay. Still, Google Pay is clearly one of the most popular digital payment services around.
Support in the United States
All four major banks in the U.S. support Google Pay — that’s Chase Bank, Wells Fargo, Citibank, and Bank of America. Many smaller banks and credit unions now support Google Pay as well; if you’re unsure, check out the Google Pay support page to check if your bank is listed.
In addition to using your phone to make purchases, many major U.S. banks like Chase and Bank of America are installing cardless ATMs. For people with accounts at these banks, its easy to use your NFC enabled Android phone to make withdrawals. Some banks are even going a step further and completely integrating Google Pay into their own apps.
In short, most banks that already support Apple Pay will back Google’s service since both use similar NFC technology for payments.
Other U.S. institutions, integrations
The latest new feature to come to Google Pay is support for the Las Vegas Monorail. According to Google, the new feature will allow users to buy tickets online through the Monorail site, then save them to Google Pay. Then, to get on the train, simply wave the phone near the fare gate. You’ll also be able to see your recent trips and get directions to the nearest Monorail station. Google says the feature will be rolling out to more public transportation services soon, but for now it’s limited to the Las Vegas Monorail.
MasterCard, Visa, American Express, and Discover support Google Pay. Sites that support Visa Checkout and Masterpass can handle Google Pay as well, thanks to a strategic partnership. You can use your fingerprint to confirm payments, and Visa Checkout and Masterpass customers can link their accounts to Google Pay as well.
Mobile banking app integration
Google Pay has also integrated with several banking apps around the world to make using the system almost seamless. Now, many customers will be able to add cards to Google Pay from their mobile banking apps at the tap of a button. Currently the number of banks that have in-app integration is limited and includes Bank of America, Discover, Bank of New Zealand, mBank, and USAA.
In-App and mobile web purchases
Although you’ll probably use Google Pay primarily in shops, it’s also useful for in-app purchases. When you’re about to purchase something in an app that supports the service, you’ll see a prompt appear for Google Pay. At the moment, Google has listed more than a dozen apps that support in-app purchases with Google Pay including Lyft, OpenTable, Hotel Tonight, Instacart, and Etsy. Most recently, more companies have signed on with Google Pay, at its launch, such as Airbnb, Postmates, Fandango, and Dice.
If you make purchases via a web browser — Google Chrome, Safari, or Firefox, or Microsoft Edge (coming soon) — on your phone, you’re in luck. Google is adding support for Google Pay for sites (that choose to integrate its application programming interface), making the checkout process less of a hassle. It currently works with a handful of sites such as Groupon and 1-800-Flowers. The integration with Visa Checkout and Masterpass is sure to boost the number of sites that support Google Pay as well.
After finding the item you want to purchase, all you need to do is click check out. You’ll then be able to select the “Buy with Google Pay” button which will open the payments sheet. This will show you the available cards and shipping addresses associated with your Google account — if you happen to be logged into more than one account, you can toggle back and forth between them.
Once you choose which Google account you want to pay with, it will automatically fill in your credit card billing information, and shipping address. But if you want to ship it to a different location, you can also choose to edit it. Using the Google Maps API, Google can also show autofill suggestions if it’s an address you’ve visited before — making it easier to fill out the information.
Google Pay also remembers the last selected card and shipping address, to make your next purchase even easier. The next time you pull up the Google Payments sheet to make a payment, the last selected address you sent an item to will be the default — but you can always edit it if needed.
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