

Google announced today that its mobile payments app, Android Pay, will be rolling out in the UK.

Android Pay is the company's re-vamped version of Google Wallet, which launched in 2011 and used near-field communications (NFC) to send payment information from an Android phone to a contactless terminal. Alphabet decided to update and re-brand the service last September after Apple launched Apple Pay in 2014 with a stronger business model due to some key alliances with banks.

Android Pay's launch in the UK will arrive with support for Visa or MasterCard debit or credit cards from a variety of supported banks including Bank of Scotland, First Direct, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, M&S Bank, MBNA, and Nationwide Building Society.

Barclays said earlier this week that it is “not planning on participating in Android Pay in the UK.” The bank just launched its own contactless payment app (which is available on Android) that allows a user to make payments of up to £30 with just a tap of their phone and payments of between £30 and £100 with a tap and a PIN entry.

Google is promising that businesses that already have contactless terminals need do nothing to accept payments from Android Pay.

One of the more interesting features of Android Pay is its compatibility with Transport for London. Users can pay for tube, bus, and train fares with Android Pay, and in the case of tube rides, Android Pay will remind the user with a notification if the app senses that the user has left a destination station without tapping out. This helps a user avoid getting a ticket and also helps Transport for London collect fares more accurately.

Finally, Android Pay will be launching a deal-focused program called Android Pay Day that will be exclusive to the UK, at least initially. To encourage sign-ups and continued use of the service, which already has quite a lot of competition in the mobile and contactless payment world, a new deal will be posted the week before pay day every month. “Starbucks UK and Deliveroo will be among the first to reward Android Pay users in the UK,” Google said.