Google's rival to Apple Pay will make its British debut at the end of March, as the web giant attempts to muscle into the emerging mobile payments industry.

The Android Pay system, Google’s second attempt to encourage users of its Android smartphone software to use their device for contactless payments, was rolled out in the United States last September. Google will announce that Android Pay will be available in Britain from the end of next month, industry sources said.

It signals a major boost to the mobile payments industry, as Android smartphones account for more than half of such devices sold in the UK. The technology works in a similar way to Apple Pay, allowing users to load their Visa and MasterCard credit or debit card details on to a smartphone equipped with a Near-Field Communication (NFC) microchip.