Hot on the heels of announcing support Chase Bank, finally, Android Pay has a few other exciting announcements today. Of course, the big one is the fact that it is now available in Google Chrome on the web. Allowing you to check out on your favorite sites – currently only a few are supported – more securely than before. The reason why it’s a bit more secure than before, is the fact that Google doesn’t share your account information with the merchant. Sites like Groupon and 1-800-FLOWERS are currently available with Android Pay support, however the Android Pay team says that there are more partners to come.
Recently, Android Pay announced that Walgreens Balance Rewards loyalty card was integrated into Android Pay. Allowing you to tap your phone and scan your card and pay at the same time, without any extra effort. Today, the team is also announcing that they are deeply integrating with Uber’s new Payment Rewards program. This allows users to unlock some timely discounts for Uber rides. To celebrate this addition, Android Pay users in the US will be able to get 50% off up to 10 Uber rides now through October 15th. There are no codes needed, just make sure to use Android Pay when you pay for your Uber rides, and you’ll get 50% off. Not a bad promotion at all.
Android Pay still isn’t available everywhere, exactly, but they are working hard to bring it to more countries, more banks and more merchants. Android Pay is Google’s mobile wallet alternative, and it seems to be gaining steam by the week. While Samsung Pay is still a much easier to use mobile wallet service, since it is accepted at virtually any store or restaurant around the world due to the MST technology that they use, Android Pay is compatible with many more smartphones. In fact, it’s compatible with anything running Android 5.0 Lollipop or later, additionally, you will need NFC to be able to actually use the service. Android Pay is a free app that you can download from the Google Play Store, if it isn’t already pre-installed on your smartphone.