Android Pay was first launched during Google I/O 2015 and it went live later that year in the United States. Fast forward to 2016, Google has been making itself busy by bringing its contactless payment service, Android Pay, to various countries. While it has been a slow process, nonetheless, Google has been making progress, with countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia and Hong Kong making the list of places with Android Pay available. Now, the mobile payment platform is set to go live in Poland today, with support for at least 400,000 locations around the country and a number of banks in the country.
The banks which are supported by Android Pay in Poland are Alior Bank, Bank Zachodni WBK, and T-Mobile Banking Services. Soon, a fifth bank will be supported which is mBank, and Google is working on it but has not given a clear timeline for this to happen. As for the retailers which are supported, Android Pay is supported at most locations which has the required NFC terminal hardware, this includes supermarkets, pharmacies and restaurants. However, according to Pali Bath, Google’s global head of payments, Android Pay in-app will not be supported at the time of launch, but eventually this feature will be made available to users. This means that Android Pay users in Poland will not be able to use the service within applications, but only at retail terminals, at least for now.
In order to get started with Android Pay, Android smartphone users must own a handset which comes equipped with NFC technology and run on Android 4.4 KitKat or higher. This will allow users to download the Android Pay app from the Google Play Store and create an account. Next, simply add your credit card or debit card and you will be able to use the service. It should also be noted that there is no limit to the number of cards you can add to your Android Pay account. On top of that, Android Pay will allow you to store your gift cards, loyalty cards and special offers within your smartphone. Poland happens to be the second country in Europe to receive Android Pay, the first being the United Kingdom, which officially received the contactless payment service back in May of this year.