Google has launched Android Pay, its mobile payments service, in the US.
The solution works with all NFC-enabled Android devices running KitKat 4.4+ at any contactless location; this means it will be available at over one million US locations, including outlets of American Eagle and Subway.
Android Pay supports credit and debit cards from the major payment networks: American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa.
Like its major rival, Apple Pay, Android Pay uses tokenisation, meaning that real credit and debit cards are not sent with the payments, but a virtual account number.
Google announced some future updates to the platform, including the ability to use Android Pay to carry out mobile checkouts within other apps. Some merchants will allow the
The app will appear for download on Google Play "in the next few days", according to the Android Blog.
Existing Google Wallet users will also be able to access Android Pay through an update to the app.
The launch makes Android Pay one of three major mobile payments solutions launched this year. As well as Apple Pay, launched in July in the UK and in October 2014 in the US, Samsung Pay has been announced by Samsung. This is set for a launch in late September.
A release date for Android Pay in the UK is not yet available.
