While Apple Pay may become one of the main ways for paying with a phone, Google is creating the mobile payment service's newest and most competent competitor.
Google announced its new mobile payment service, Android Pay, during Google's IO 2015 conference on Thursday. Android Pay will let users store their credit, debit and prepaid card information inside their Android device, then pay with their phones at stores that accept Android Pay.
In many ways, Apple Pay and Android Pay offer the same services. However, Android Pay has a couple of unique features that Apple Pay doesn't. For example, Android Pay has backwards compatibility—according to USA Today, that makes it compatible with every Android OS since 2013's KitKat. This is partly because Android phone builders have built Android devices with NFC chips—which are required for both Apple and Android Pay—for a long time.
Also, Android Pay will have the ability to credit a user's loyalty program. This means that users don't have to worry about not getting points when they make a purchase with their device. Apple says that it will be adding that feature in June.
According to Google, the tech titan hopes to have Android Pay-compatible devices in 700,000 locations and more than 1,000 Android Pay-compatible apps soon.
Google did not announce a specific date when Android Pay would be available. The company just said that it would be available soon.
