It is official the announcement of Android Pay, the new mobile payment system, which was presented during the keynote of the first day of Google I/O 2015. Nevertheless, what interests us more is the news that the American giant is preparing a new system, in prototype form, called “Hands Free” payments.
Having led the way for mobile payments four years ago with Google Wallet, a groundbreaking application at the time, but when acceptance were still in their infancy, the software and online services company is returning with Android Pay.
How will hands free payments work?
Imagine being at the checkout of a store, hands in your pockets, and all you have to do is say that you want to pay with Google (“I'd like to pay with Google”) and that this could be done without even taking your phone out of your pocket. We don't know if this sounds exciting to you, but Google likes it and is experimenting with such a development.
The most innovative feature of the new digital wallet of Google appears to be the ability for hands free payments. According to announcements and the first demos, the customer will only need to approach the store’s checkout having the smartphone in hand and say «I want to pay with Google ». As they move away, the transaction will complete and the details will be available on the device’s screen.
In the testing phase the functionality is currently:
The feature will be available at two restaurant chains in the United States, apparently for low-cost transactions. Although Google hasn't provided much more information about how it will work, it will likely be based on geofences based on the user's location.
There have been similar experiments in the past, such as Square and Paypal with Beacon, but Google wants, as always, to make such technology more mainstream. As it announced, it will begin implementing “Hands Free” payments soon at Papa John's and McDonalds chains in San Francisco, while it is working to have a wider range of cooperating stores soon.
Google promised that Android Pay will be accepted with its activation at more than 700,000 locations in the United States and will cooperate with more than 1,000 Android apps for in-app purchases. The venture is supported by American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa, while Google (in contrast to Apple) appears to want to keep telecom providers active in their game.
It is not yet known whether “Hands Free” will be part of the Android Pay experience.
You can watch the video in which the company promotes this method, as well as read more on the special page that has been created, by clicking here.
