With the build-up to IFA in full swing, there has been a ton of leaks and rumors coming through over the last week. However, IFA aside, another rumor gained massive traction over the past seven days and this was in regards to Android Pay. Google’s new mobile payment solution has been widely reported on since it debuted at this year’s I/O event and had been tipped to arrive before the summer was out. As the end of August is now here, many thought that time-frame may have meant round about now.
In fact, five days ago, the launch of Android Pay before the end of August seemed to be almost guaranteed when a McDonald’s image which leaked online clearly suggested that Android Pay would be arriving on August 26th, today. This seemed even more likely when yesterday, another leaked image appeared from Subway, which again seemed to show Android Pay was about to drop.
Well, as it is the 26th, it is time for an update and the latest coming through is that Android Pay will not be arriving today. In fact, it will not even be arriving anytime this week. This latest news comes from TechCrunch who report that “sources familiar with Google’s plans” have confirmed to them that Android Pay is not launching this week, and therefore, presumably not within August. At the moment, it is still unclear as to whether the recent leaked promos from both McDonald’s and Subway were wrong, fake or otherwise. However, taking them on face value and in spite of the news that it will not be coming in the coming days, it does seem certain that it is getting ready for a launch and likewise, so are the retailers. As this is a mobile payment solution and with the Holiday season approaching, it does seem to make sense that Google will want to push this out sooner rather than later and especially to ensure there are no kinks in the system before the Holiday season sets in. For now though, how soon the launch will be, still continues to be a mystery.