Google announces Android Pay

At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, Google executive Sundar Pichai confirmed that the world's most popular smartphone operating system is about to get integrated mobile payments capabilities.

Mobile-payments-will-be-integrated-into-the-Android-smartphone-operating-system-Photo-AFP-scyther5-shutterstock-com

At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, Google executive Sundar Pichai confirmed that the world's most popular smartphone operating system is about to get integrated mobile payments capabilities.

Pichai's confirmation comes just a day after Samsung gave its first official demonstration of Samsung Pay, its own take on mobile payments which is built into its latest flagship handset, the Galaxy S6 and which will be going live in the US and in Korea in August.

Google has been attempting to get consumers to ditch their cards and use a smartphone to pay for goods in physical stores since the start of the decade with its Google Wallet app. However, what makes Android Pay different is that it will be a feature that any app developer will be able to integrate into their titles for automatic wireless payment support.

During his address at the world's largest mobile and telecommunications event, Pichai refused to be drawn on specific details of Android Pay but did confirm that it would offer many of the features of Apple's system, Apple Pay, which has been grabbing headlines since it was launched in the US in October last year.