As far as I can tell, this works EXACTLY the same way as Apple Pay from the representational card numbers stored on each device that is created, stored and authenticated by each participating financial institution, to how it now only goes through the PoS system to their ISP and banking service for authentication, without the need for Internet access on your mobile payment device or using anything from Google's online services.
They're technical differences between the two, Apple relies on hardware encryption methods, so the transaction is secure on that device (i.e. you cant view your apple watch payments on your iPhone). They both use virtual cards, but again there's differences in how they do this. I know Ars has done a number of articles on the nitty gritty. To the end user the operation should be the same though.
A lot of stores are upgrading their POS system to be able to take the new chip cards that are being issued. These new systems have NFC as well most of the time. I guess stores just aren't turning that part on.
Fancy that, you get the same comment from two small countries that have a similar population, economy and politics and similarly have a handful (around 5) of large dominant banks that make up their banking system.
Compare that with the US that has a much larger economy, a much different banking system and a much different politics.
You can argue which one is better, but you can't argue which one is much more difficult to co-ordinate such a change in.
larger economy has nothing to do with it, it's just lack of political will.
Chip and pin was rolled out all over Europe years ago, despite the mess of different countries and legal and regulatory systems, and despite the whole area being a large economy with a bunch of different banks too (I mean just take a look at Italy, there's enough banks to make your head explode).
And now the US isn't even doing chip and pin, just chip and signature. Because politics and big business. Big business is moving a bit now only because of the huge data breaches.
Who cares about C+P? It's really a non-issue, and I doubt it makes commercial sense now. It was (and perhaps still is) cheaper to eat the fraud cost than make the investment to C+P. Perhaps the issuers saw the writing on the wall with current fraud trajectory.
Political will? Why should the government insert itself into such private commercial matters?
With literally all of Europe on C+P, the vast majority of fraud is committed with American credit/debit cards. Once you invest in C+P the fraud is expected to go down, offsetting the investment. Delaying it saves you the investment cost, but how many years of fraud can that afford to cover? It's not like it'll just go away on its own; very few criminals get tired of free money.
rather be behind on credit card chip and pin than be behind in everything else. like apple pay, and android pay. how long are you guys waiting for that?
Found this fact out after trying to setup the app up. Disabled it and removed it from my phone since it's useless if I can't use it because I don't have a lock screen.
"Android Pay will work on any smartphone running Android 4.4 KitKat or newer so long as the phone has NFC hardware."
No, it doesn't. There are a handful of devices that just don't support Host Card Emulation and have never worked with tap-to-pay in Google Wallet, and continue to not work with Android Pay. (Prime examples being the Note 3, S3, etc.)
I also read on Android Central that it requires a US SIM, which I don't understand. What does the SIM have to do with secure authentication of the virtual card from the bank?
I'd be really curious how you're managing that. The old Google Wallet never worked with tap-to-pay on the Note 3 (being specifically listed as an exception), and the new Android Pay is listed as incompatible.
I for one dont understand why people are getting so workout about this pay thing. What is wrong with chip+pin? As long as you have to get your phone out to pay, in the same manner you can get your card out of the pocket. I can understand the option to pay/help a friend that is miles away and needs some money (like for car petrol), but paying at stores with your phone? The word "snob" describes it the best. For me is just a "thing" to brag about. And the comercials suport and show exactly that.
Why does there have to be anything wrong with C+P for there to be another option? Still, Apple Pay, Android Pay, and all the others that will follow, do offer considerable security and convenience over C+P.
Regarding security, for example, if your card is lost or stolen you have to have a new card issued. With these mobile *Pay systems your card number is never used. Your financial institution generates, issues, and stores a virtual card number on their system that is tied to your physical card number and count. That means your physical card number is never at risk. If your watch is lost or stolen your physical card number remains safe. If your phone is lost or stolen your physical card number remains safe. If your tablet is lost or stolen your physical card number remains safe. Each mobile device gets its own virtual card number that is represented on your account by your financial institution. You can also remotely remove these representational card numbers per device from your device, or, more importantly, from your financial institutions in one single event, which means even if someone can gain access to your OS and access the secure element associated with the NFC chip it simply won't work once those virtual account numbers are wiped. Again, this is per device so there is no need to figure out all the cards that were stolen, find the phone numbers of the financial institutions, and then call each one to have them canceled and new ones sent to you.
Regarding convenience, for example, I don't tend to carry my wallet in my hand all the time, but I do tend to have my phone in my hand my smartwatch on my wrist. If I'm in a line, I am very likely to be looking at my phone. This makes it more convenient to use a mobile *Pay system because its inarguably faster and requires less juggling of objects that I'm either playing "musical pockets" with to get out my wallet or holding both in my hand. Of course, we're only talking a couple seconds at most, for something we all have muscle memory for, but it is clearly less time, especially when you consider your additional example of having to input a PIN on top of sliding your card into a reader. Additionally, I don't want to touch a PIN-pad if I don't have to… but I digress. The real convenience is not having to carry your wallet as much once this reaches a critical point of acceptance. Right now, there are places I go to where I won't bring my wallet (or even my phone) to pay knowing that they accept NFC-based payments. If you like to go for a jog or biking, and then want to stop to get some food afterwards, it's convenient not to carry extra stuff with you.
Within 2-3 years I expect the comment will move from, "Hey! They accept *Pay!." to "Hey! What do you mean you don't accept *Pay?," at which point the real saving on fraud by your financial institutions will drop significantly as we won't have to carry all of our cards with us everywhere we go.
For those worried about the NFC system not working, that's not different than any when CC's started taking off and people had to carry cash because they didn't take cards at all, or many years later when they moved from the manual handwritten systems with carbon paper to the systems that required a phone call to a banking service. Many still carry cash, just in case, but this fear continually drops off with each new generation. I expect any fears with *Pay will fall away, too, as this convenient and secure NFC-based payments continue to take hold.
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solipsism - Friday, September 18, 2015 - link
As far as I can tell, this works EXACTLY the same way as Apple Pay from the representational card numbers stored on each device that is created, stored and authenticated by each participating financial institution, to how it now only goes through the PoS system to their ISP and banking service for authentication, without the need for Internet access on your mobile payment device or using anything from Google's online services.cjb110 - Tuesday, September 22, 2015 - link
They're technical differences between the two, Apple relies on hardware encryption methods, so the transaction is secure on that device (i.e. you cant view your apple watch payments on your iPhone). They both use virtual cards, but again there's differences in how they do this. I know Ars has done a number of articles on the nitty gritty. To the end user the operation should be the same though.pukemon1976 - Friday, September 18, 2015 - link
What's wrong with wallet? And how come many stores are upgrading their terminals but not turning on nfc payment option?ishmoo21 - Friday, September 18, 2015 - link
A lot of stores are upgrading their POS system to be able to take the new chip cards that are being issued. These new systems have NFC as well most of the time. I guess stores just aren't turning that part on.shabby - Friday, September 18, 2015 - link
You guys are just getting chip and pin? Wow you're so far behind, i've been tapping my card for instant payment for years now in canada.Wardrop - Friday, September 18, 2015 - link
Likewise in Australia. My bank even allows me to make NFC payments on my OnePlus One using their app. Super easy.prisonerX - Saturday, September 19, 2015 - link
Fancy that, you get the same comment from two small countries that have a similar population, economy and politics and similarly have a handful (around 5) of large dominant banks that make up their banking system.Compare that with the US that has a much larger economy, a much different banking system and a much different politics.
You can argue which one is better, but you can't argue which one is much more difficult to co-ordinate such a change in.
Murloc - Saturday, September 19, 2015 - link
larger economy has nothing to do with it, it's just lack of political will.Chip and pin was rolled out all over Europe years ago, despite the mess of different countries and legal and regulatory systems, and despite the whole area being a large economy with a bunch of different banks too (I mean just take a look at Italy, there's enough banks to make your head explode).
And now the US isn't even doing chip and pin, just chip and signature. Because politics and big business. Big business is moving a bit now only because of the huge data breaches.
Zoomer - Sunday, September 20, 2015 - link
Who cares about C+P? It's really a non-issue, and I doubt it makes commercial sense now. It was (and perhaps still is) cheaper to eat the fraud cost than make the investment to C+P. Perhaps the issuers saw the writing on the wall with current fraud trajectory.Political will? Why should the government insert itself into such private commercial matters?
joex4444 - Monday, September 21, 2015 - link
With literally all of Europe on C+P, the vast majority of fraud is committed with American credit/debit cards. Once you invest in C+P the fraud is expected to go down, offsetting the investment. Delaying it saves you the investment cost, but how many years of fraud can that afford to cover? It's not like it'll just go away on its own; very few criminals get tired of free money.jhoff80 - Friday, September 18, 2015 - link
Not even chip and pin, but the less secure chip and signature.Morawka - Saturday, September 19, 2015 - link
rather be behind on credit card chip and pin than be behind in everything else. like apple pay, and android pay. how long are you guys waiting for that?av911 - Friday, September 18, 2015 - link
Requires enabling lockscreen. I'm not updating the app until it stops working, then I'll completely stop paying with my phone.cragAT - Monday, September 21, 2015 - link
Found this fact out after trying to setup the app up. Disabled it and removed it from my phone since it's useless if I can't use it because I don't have a lock screen.jhoff80 - Friday, September 18, 2015 - link
"Android Pay will work on any smartphone running Android 4.4 KitKat or newer so long as the phone has NFC hardware."No, it doesn't. There are a handful of devices that just don't support Host Card Emulation and have never worked with tap-to-pay in Google Wallet, and continue to not work with Android Pay. (Prime examples being the Note 3, S3, etc.)
solipsism - Friday, September 18, 2015 - link
I also read on Android Central that it requires a US SIM, which I don't understand. What does the SIM have to do with secure authentication of the virtual card from the bank?» http://www.androidcentral.com/google-wallet-tap-an...
piiman - Saturday, September 19, 2015 - link
Security?Murloc - Saturday, September 19, 2015 - link
because they're rolling it out to the US only. And that's how they know if you're a US customer I guess.Schecter1989 - Saturday, September 19, 2015 - link
Hmm. My Note 3 on ATT has tap to pay working just fine. Not modded or custom ROM loaded either. Stock Lollipop and it works great.jhoff80 - Saturday, September 19, 2015 - link
I'd be really curious how you're managing that. The old Google Wallet never worked with tap-to-pay on the Note 3 (being specifically listed as an exception), and the new Android Pay is listed as incompatible.R3MF - Saturday, September 19, 2015 - link
any chance you could use Play Store credit for Android Pay purchases?Youtube Gaming - Saturday, September 19, 2015 - link
Its great Google has launched Android pay on Google play, as so many people will use it: http:androidpay.weebly.comalin - Sunday, September 20, 2015 - link
I for one dont understand why people are getting so workout about this pay thing.What is wrong with chip+pin? As long as you have to get your phone out to pay, in the same manner you can get your card out of the pocket.
I can understand the option to pay/help a friend that is miles away and needs some money (like for car petrol), but paying at stores with your phone? The word "snob" describes it the best.
For me is just a "thing" to brag about. And the comercials suport and show exactly that.
solipsism - Monday, September 21, 2015 - link
Why does there have to be anything wrong with C+P for there to be another option? Still, Apple Pay, Android Pay, and all the others that will follow, do offer considerable security and convenience over C+P.Regarding security, for example, if your card is lost or stolen you have to have a new card issued. With these mobile *Pay systems your card number is never used. Your financial institution generates, issues, and stores a virtual card number on their system that is tied to your physical card number and count. That means your physical card number is never at risk. If your watch is lost or stolen your physical card number remains safe. If your phone is lost or stolen your physical card number remains safe. If your tablet is lost or stolen your physical card number remains safe. Each mobile device gets its own virtual card number that is represented on your account by your financial institution. You can also remotely remove these representational card numbers per device from your device, or, more importantly, from your financial institutions in one single event, which means even if someone can gain access to your OS and access the secure element associated with the NFC chip it simply won't work once those virtual account numbers are wiped. Again, this is per device so there is no need to figure out all the cards that were stolen, find the phone numbers of the financial institutions, and then call each one to have them canceled and new ones sent to you.
Regarding convenience, for example, I don't tend to carry my wallet in my hand all the time, but I do tend to have my phone in my hand my smartwatch on my wrist. If I'm in a line, I am very likely to be looking at my phone. This makes it more convenient to use a mobile *Pay system because its inarguably faster and requires less juggling of objects that I'm either playing "musical pockets" with to get out my wallet or holding both in my hand. Of course, we're only talking a couple seconds at most, for something we all have muscle memory for, but it is clearly less time, especially when you consider your additional example of having to input a PIN on top of sliding your card into a reader. Additionally, I don't want to touch a PIN-pad if I don't have to… but I digress. The real convenience is not having to carry your wallet as much once this reaches a critical point of acceptance. Right now, there are places I go to where I won't bring my wallet (or even my phone) to pay knowing that they accept NFC-based payments. If you like to go for a jog or biking, and then want to stop to get some food afterwards, it's convenient not to carry extra stuff with you.
Within 2-3 years I expect the comment will move from, "Hey! They accept *Pay!." to "Hey! What do you mean you don't accept *Pay?," at which point the real saving on fraud by your financial institutions will drop significantly as we won't have to carry all of our cards with us everywhere we go.
For those worried about the NFC system not working, that's not different than any when CC's started taking off and people had to carry cash because they didn't take cards at all, or many years later when they moved from the manual handwritten systems with carbon paper to the systems that required a phone call to a banking service. Many still carry cash, just in case, but this fear continually drops off with each new generation. I expect any fears with *Pay will fall away, too, as this convenient and secure NFC-based payments continue to take hold.
lambedross - Thursday, March 29, 2018 - link
You can check here Google Launches Android Pay On Google Play https://playstore.zone/