We have known about Android Pay since the Google I/O back in May…the replacement for Google’s Wallet. There is definitely a race to get out these so-called electronic wallets and the ability to pay at the point-of-sale (POS) and why not…there is big money in it. While Apple Pay is very restrictive, Android Pay and Samsung Pay break down those barriers and make it easy to buy at most retailers. The only big secret is when will Android Pay be available for everybody with an NFC capable device to use? Google did peg the release as “this summer,” so the end of August seems reasonable. From all we are hearing, it looks like its release is imminent.
A rumor over the internet this weekend has Wednesday, August 26 as the launch date, based on a few postings at several McDonald’s restaurants. These indicated that changes were coming to McDonald’s mobile payment solutions and describing Android Pay and how customers and employees were to deal with them. McDonald’s was an early leader in accepting Google Wallet for the most part and seems poised to jump on Android Pay now too. To further validate the rumor that we will see Android Pay soon, comes from a reader who sent a tip over to TechnoBuffalo – from the sandwich chain Subway. It seems the reader got an email ( shown below) that claims, “Android Pay is now at Subway. You can use your Android device to pay with a single touch!” The actual app is still not alive in the Google Play Store which still is only showing Google Wallet…but that change could easily go into effect overnight.
It certainly looks like we will be seeing Android Pay very soon, although there is no guarantee this Wednesday is THE date. Ads are done up ahead of time and maybe they are jumping the gun or working off of old dates that have since been updated to later in the month. There was another rumor earlier this month which claimed Android Pay would be released with the new Nexus smartphone(s). Google said it will be accepted at more than 700,000 locations and McDonald’s and Subway were on the list…let’s hope they know more than we do!