Today, Google announced that Android Pay is finally rolling out and will be available for use starting today. Of course, this is for the US only right now. And it’s a pretty slow rollout. A number of card issuers and banks are already on board, but there are still a few that are not supported. Most notably Citi, Wells Fargo and Capital One. For those that have been using Google Wallet, you may have some of these cards in your wallet already. And if you do, they will still be able to be used in Android Pay, for now. Google says that unsupported cards that are in Google Wallet are accepted right now, but they are unclear of how long that grandfathered period is going to last. Additionally, if you add the unsupported card to Android Pay after you get the update, it will not work.
For the most part, this is set up so that users who have been using Google Wallet can transition to Android Pay without any issues. So this grandfathered period likely won’t last too long. And Google already has the majority of the banks on board, and are working with a few others to get them on board in the next week or so. Google stated that Citi and Wells Fargo will be available in the coming days, and Capital One a bit further down the road. And of course, the others that were not named should be along soon.
To keep things simple, you’re bank or card issuer must be on the list, which is located at android.com/pay. Whether that’s Bank of America, Chase, Citi, or any of the many other banks, they must be listed there, or the card will not work with Android Pay, unfortunately. So if you have a Chase MasterCard, you won’t be able to add your card. While MasterCard is supported, Chase is not yet supported. That will likely change very soon, but for now it’s a bit confusing. You’ll need to make sure your bank and processor are supported, for the card to be supported. We’ll be sure to keep everyone updated as things change.