Android Pay is real, will give the power to developers to expand the functionality

BY Evan Selleck

Published 2 Mar 2015

google_wallet

There’s been rumors floating around that Google is gearing up to relaunch Wallet as soon as Google I/O, but in the meantime something else could get launched, too.

And that’s Android Pay, which was initially reported on February 26, which is also said to be yet another mobile payments solution talked about Google I/O. Apparently Google’s product czar, Sundar Pichai, wanted to jump ahead a little bit, as he has confirmed Android Pay as the real deal. On top of that, Android Pay will essentially give all the power to third-party developers through a series of APIs.

What’s probably the most interesting thing about Android Pay is that it looks like, according to a report published by TechCrunch, the new mobile payments framework is going to essentially replace Wallet, and aims to work where the previous mobile payments option failed. Android Pay doesn’t sound like it’s going to be a centralized app, like Apple’s Pay or even Samsung Pay, but instead is intended to be a develop tool.

Android Pay will keep the payment information secure locally, just like those other mobile payment options, and then will make it available through third-party applications to use how the user sees fit. It will even tokenize payments, for that extra layer of security. Android Pay will use fingerprint sensors for hardware protection as well, and it will use NFC just like Wallet does.

Essentially, Android Pay looks like a big departure from Wallet as a whole, and it will be interesting to see how/if developers take advantage of the new APIs.

[via TechCrunch]