Google is reportedly planning to launch Google Pay at its upcoming Google I/O conference in May 2015. According to ArsTechnica, citing the sources close to the matter, Google will announce a new payment API called Google Pay during its Google I/O conference. The rumor comes out following Google’s acquisition of Softcard (formerly known as Isis) earlier this week.
Google’s upcoming payment related service will indeed be called Google Pay, as per ArsTechnica’s report. This new payment platform will power in-store payments as well as in-app payments for third-party apps. Once launched, Google Pay will take on Apple Pay as a revamp to Google Wallet that has been around since 2011.
Just like Apple Pay, the Android Pay service will allow a company adopting its API to introduce tap-to-pay transactions in brick-and-mortar stores. In addition, the service will allow third-party app developers to add mobile payments option to their app, to which users can add their debit and credit cards. This way the payment will become single tap transactions within the app. The service will make use of NFC chip to communicate with the the devices at payment points.
Unlike Google Wallet, the Android Pay API will be “built from the ground up” for Android developers, using Google’s Host Card Emulation (HCE), which makes it convenient for third-party apps to take advantage of the Near Field Communications (NFC) chips available in Android phones.
Earlier this week, Google announced that it has formed a partnership with Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T for Google Wallet to come pre-installed in Android devices, alongside the revealing of its Softcard acquisition.
Earlier numbers shows a faster growth of Apple Pay, which was launched in November, over Google’s ailing Wallet payment service. Google’s plan of launching its new mobile payment solution in coming May were first reported by The Wall Street Journal.