Singapore is third country to launch Google's Android Pay

Singapore

GOOGLE'S Android Pay mobile payment service will be available from Tuesday, offering contactless MasterCard and Visa payments through the cards issued by five banks here, as well as future support for gift and loyalty cards from local businesses.

Singapore is the first in Asia to get Android Pay, following the launch of the payment service in the United States last September and in the United Kingdom last month.

Android Pay is the third major digital wallet service to enter the local market, after Apple Pay in May and Samsung Pay two weeks ago.

Alternatives to these three include the locally available UOB Mighty and Singtel Dash payment platforms.

The digital wallets by Apple, Samsung and Google store data of a user's credit card on the phone, and use wireless near-field communication (NFC) technology to transmit secure data between the phone and the payment reader at the point of purchase.

Apple Pay and Samsung Pay are available only on select Apple and Samsung phones such as the latest iPhone 6s and Samsung Galaxy S7, but Android Pay is available on any NFC-enabled Android device running Google's Android KitKat 4.4 operating system or higher.

Support for the digital wallets also varies. Apple Pay and Android Pay can store data for local debit and credit cards issued by DBS Bank, OCBC Bank, POSB, Standard Chartered Bank and United Overseas Bank (UOB); Samsung Pay will work with cards from Citibank, DBS Bank, POSB, OCBC Bank and Standard Chartered Bank.

Apple Pay is the only platform supporting American Express cards. An Amex spokesman said Amex support for Samsung Pay is "coming soon".

Aside from enabling electronic payments, Android Pay is the only payment service that will support loyalty card programmes here. This is not available yet, but Google Singapore says it is in talks to introduce it with NTUC Link's Plus! Rewards and CapitaLand's Capitastar programmes.

The Apple and Samsung platforms do not support loyalty cards yet.

F&B chain BreadTalk, which accepts payments from several digital wallet platforms including Singtel Dash and UOB Mighty, says it is looking into placing its stored-value Kopi Card on Android Pay.

Mr Vincent Lim, regional general manager at BreadTalk Pte Ltd, said: "We are looking to see if there's a market for that. For this card, we still ride on a lot of senior citizens, and if they use Android Pay, this will be an additional benefit to them."

Google launched Android Pay in the UK with support for Transport for London, in a tie-up which enables users to pay for bus, train and tube rides with their phone; there will, however, not be anything similar in Singapore for now.

Mr Pali Bhat, senior director for product management at Google, said: "At launch, we won't have support, but we are working very closely with EZ-Link to figure out how to build support for this with Android Pay.

"We are particularly excited that the Land Transport Authority is looking into account-based ticketing systems."

Account-based ticketing is a fare collection system that the authority will test out in the fourth quarter of this year; it enables commuters to use contactless debit or credit cards for fare payments, without the need for upfront top-ups.

Another unique feature of Android Pay here is the closer integration with the mobile apps of, for example, Deliveroo, Grab, Shopee, Singapore Airlines and Uber; this will be rolled out later this year. Instead of keying in payment details every time, users hit the Android Pay button within those apps to complete payment.

While such additional features that go beyond payment can help Google shake up the market, Ng Zhi Ying, a researcher with Forrester, said: "There is still some way to go before we see a fully integrated digital wallet that enables seamless payment experiences for all consumers in Singapore.

"While the use of mobile payments is increasing in Singapore, it is still currently a 'nice-to-have' feature that certain smartphones provide. It does not yet play a crucial role in influencing consumers' smartphone purchasing decisions."