Google is working with Australian banks for Android Pay launch

Google's announcement today that Android Pay is getting a major update brought with it the news that the mobile payment service is coming to Australia.

But in a separate post on the Google Australia blog, we know that the search giant has managed to accomplish what Apple couldn't do – work with Australian banks to launch a mobile payment service.

According to the announcement, Google is working with a number of Australian banks to launch Android Pay in Australia. The list of banks is pretty comprehensive too: ANZ, Westpac, Bank of Melbourne, Bank of South Australia, Bendigo Bank, Cuscal, ING DIRECT, Macquarie Bank, and St. George are all name-checked.

Interestingly, that means that both NAB and Commonwealth bank customers will miss out, at least initially, although Google has promised to continue working with more banks throughout the year.

To get around the Australian banks roadblock, Apple instead partnered with American Express in order to get mobile payments happening down under.

Broad access

Thanks to the advanced tap and go infrastructure already installed at retailers around the country, Android Pay will have a rather large network of supported points of sale when it does launch in the first half of 2016.

But Google has also confirmed that it is working directly with a number of retailers to ensure that Android Pay is properly implemented, including 7-Eleven, Brumby's Bakery, Coles Express, Coles Supermarkets, Crust Gourmet Pizza, Domino's Pizza Enterprises Limited, Donut King, Gloria Jean's Coffees, McDonald's, Michel's Patisserie, Pizza Capers, and Telstra.

What's more, Android Pay will also be enabled on a number of local shopping apps, enabling Android users to pay for goods with a faster checkout without having to enter payment details after every purchase. Apps that will support this at launch include Catch of the Day, EatNow, GoCatch, Kogan.com, Menulog, OzSale, Rewardle, and The Iconic.

• While you wait for Android Pay, why not check out our Apple Pay review