Love Digital: Android Tap and Go
By Teamspirit on Friday, 8 April 2016
What makes us love digital so much this week?
Soon Android users will be able to tap to pay like their iPhone friends.
Android Tap and Go
Android users in the UK will, in the ‘next few’ months finally be able to tap-and-go to pay for goods and services using their phones. Android users have been lagging behind their iPhone friends as Apple Pay went Live in the UK in July 2015.Both systems use NFC (Near Field Communication) to act like a tap-and-pay substitute for credit and debit cards. According to the Official Android blog an Android user will be able to use their device everywhere that contactless payments are accepted such as Waitrose, Transport for London, BP and Aldi to name a few. In addition Android Pay is creating partnerships with Apps such as Deliveroo, Zara and JD Sports to make the payment process as streamlined as possible (and help business reduce drop-out at the critical point of payment). In the US, where Android Pay is already live, it has has been growing steadily in the US with 1.5 million new registrations happening each month.
In the US the largest barrier to usage appears to be concerns about security - much like the resistance to card card contactless payment here in the UK, but according to a Mastercard Press Release last year a quarter of Brits intend to use mobile payments within a year.
Samsung, an Android device, is also due to launch Samsung Pay, already live in the US and Korea ‘imminently’, it was due to go live with the launch of the S7 and S7 Edge but these phones are already on the market in the UK.
In the news
Facebook activates its Safety Check feature in the wake of the Brussels terrorist atrocities
Facebook has activated its Safety Check feature in the wake of the terrorist atrocities in Brussels last month.The feature allows users to easily tell their friends that they are safe during a disaster, with Facebook able to guess if they are in the area.
Once they mark themselves safe, it will appear to all their friends. The feature was used in the wake of the Paris bombings but has been criticized for it’s focus on Western disasters. It has since been used in the wake of attacks in Nigeria and Turkey.
