Google could be announcing ‘Android Pay’ at this year’s I/O

Google isn’t exactly a new player when it comes to the world of digital payments, but Google Wallet certainly didn’t have the same effect as Apple Pay. According to a report from Ars Technica, Google is working on something to try and change that, and that something is called ‘Android Pay’

Google I/O conference has always been about informing users and developers about the new things Google will be introducing over the following 12 months, making it the perfect platform for a rejuvenated payments system.

Apparently Android Pay will function much like Google Wallet, allowing users to add credit, debit, and loyalty cards to their accounts. On top of that individual retailers will have the option of adding Android Pay to their own retail apps, letting users pay for goods with a single tap both online and in-store.

Ars Technica claims that Android Pay will be built from the ground-up, rather that being slapped on top of the existing Google Wallet API. Apparently Google Wallet will still be around, but it will be ‘supported’ by Android Pay. The report states that part of this relationship will involve being able to link your Google Wallet and Android Pay accounts together, so existing Google Wallet users don’t need to worry about transferring all their cards.

Sadly Google I/O isn’t going to be happening until May, so we have quite a long time to wait and see if these reports turn out to be accurate. If they are, it’ll certainly be interesting to see what’s going to happen with it and what the long-term future of Google Wallet will be.