If you’re one of a handful of people – okay there may be more than just a handful – that still use the Google Wallet app, then you may have noticed a new banner at the top of the app. Basically, Google Wallet is teasing Android Pay which was announced earlier this year at Google I/O and is slated to be the replacement of Google Wallet. Basically the banner says “Coming Soon! Android Pay and a new Google Wallet” and taping on that takes you to a FAQ page on Google’s website. This appears to be a server-side change, so someone at Google just flipped the switch, as there hasn’t been an update to the app recently.
Currently, there is still no set date for the launch of Android Pay. There was a rumored August date in a McDonald’s memo, but obviously that date wasn’t the official date as we are now in September and still no Android Pay. We’ve also seen a leak out of Verizon, this time around, which states a September 16th launch. that’s a little over a week away from now, and could be likely, as that would be about two weeks before the supposed Nexus announcement at the end of the month. If you’re scratching your head as to why Verizon would even have a memo about Android Pay, it’s because Google bought parts of SoftCard, which the three carriers not installing Google Wallet (Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T) were partners with. This pretty much made them partners with Android Pay. This is great because it means all four carriers will accept Android Pay, and allow the app on their devices. That’s a huge win there.
We should be hearing more shortly about Android Pay. Samsung Pay has already launched in South Korea and is available in the US in a public beta. Hopefully Android Pay won’t be too far off. I’d still expect it to launch before or with the new Nexus hardware. Which is still rumored for September 29th.