Which cards work with Android Pay. Android Pay: how to use and what is it? What do you need for android pay to work?

The date of the official launch in Russia of the payment service from Google - Android Pay happened on May 23, 2017! Owners of smartphones running the operating system of the same name are happy and, of course, wondering what devices this service works on.
The list of devices that support Android Pay is quite extensive, and this is its advantage over analogues that focus only on one brand.

Android Pay compatibility with your gadget

Your gadget will be fully compatible with only two components. This:

Operating system Android version KitKat4 and higher. This version works successfully on models of almost any brand released after 2013. You can view the version of your operating system in “Settings” by selecting the “Device Information” sub-item. Read more about this here.
The developer version of Android won't work either.
The next point will be the presence on your or another Android gadget of a module that is responsible for contactless data transfer (NFC module). If you don’t know for sure whether such a function exists on, say, a phone, you can find out more information in its technical specifications. In addition, on some smartphones and tablets, the contactless data transfer function must be enabled additionally in the settings. Read about that in our article.
You don't have to have a rooted smartphone. Also, Android Pay cannot be installed on a smartphone with an unlocked bootloader. In this way, Google strives to protect customers from scammers: devices with an unlocked bootloader are less secure. For more information, see our information. Anything is possible 😉
The Samsung MyKnox app must not be installed on your phone.
The device must be certified by Google.

And there are also some phones that seem to be suitable, but nevertheless you will not be able to use the payment service on them:

Samsung Galaxy: Note III, Light, S3
Elephone P9000
Evo 4G LTE
Nexus 7 (2012)

Well, that’s all, you’ll agree – a little. Today, there are about 40% of Android gadgets with the appropriate characteristics. That is, in addition to almost any smartphone or tablet of the latest generation, the service can be downloaded, for example, to a phone released in 2014. And they can do so at any retail outlet where contactless payments are accepted, and there are a great many of them today. If you want to know, go to the corresponding article.

This is a wallet application for smartphones that can store bank card information. Thanks to the application, you can make contactless payments in stores and on the Internet without entering your bank card information. This makes payments fast. You don't have to show your bank card at the checkout. If the purchase is over 1000 rubles, you will need to enter a PIN code.

How to download?

For now, Android Pay can be used by cardholders of these banks:

"AK Bars"
Alfa Bank
Binbank
VTB 24
MTS Bank
Bank opening"
Promsvyazbank
Raiffeisenbank
Rocketbank
Russian Standard Bank
Rosselkhozbank
Sberbank
Tinkoff Bank
"Dot"
Yandex money

The list of banks will be expanded soon. If your bank is not there, then keep an eye on it.

The application can be downloaded on a smartphone that supports Android 4.4 or higher, as well as on watches with Android Wear 2.0. This means that if your phone was released in 2013 or later, it will support the program. It is important that the phone has an NFC chip - thanks to it contactless payments are made.

According to Google representatives, if the device allows it, then you can use Android Pay and .

Application installation:

Go to the Google Pay store and download.
Open the application. Take a photo of the map and enter your home address.
Read and confirm the terms of use of the application, and also confirm your bank card details with the code from the SMS message.

The installation procedure takes two minutes. Then you can hide the card between towels in the closet and pay with your smartphone.

How to pay?

It is necessary that the NFC option is activated on the smartphone (sometimes it is disabled due to infrequent use). If you have several cards in your wallet, you can choose the one with which it is more profitable to make a purchase. If there is one default card, then you do not need to enter the program, but simply bring your smartphone to the terminal, as you do with regular cards that support contactless payment.

Payments with Android Pay can be made at most payment terminals, but not all. All terminals, according to Google representatives, will switch to contactless over the next 2-3 years.

Just in case, carry one card or cash with you for places that only accept chip cards or cash.

Android Pay is definitely accepted on these networks:

To use Android Pay, it is important to connect the data transfer option on your smartphone. However, payments are possible if the phone is not connected to the Internet for several hours. The duration of the gap between connections depends on the bank, Google explained.

It is safe?

Google says yes. AndroidPay is based on tokenization technology. Its essence is to encrypt data about a bank card and its owner. One number appears instead of all the information. Even if the fraudster intercepts it, he will not be able to do anything.

If the smartphone is lost, the wallet can be blocked using the option. You can also call the bank and block the card.

Losing a bank card is more dangerous than losing a smartphone with Android Pay.

Livers and bonuses

Residents and guests of Moscow using Android Pay will be able to ride the metro with a 50% discount until June 23, 2017. “When paying for travel on the metro and MCC using Android Pay, the trip will cost passengers 50% less. First, the cost of the ticket (40 rubles) will be debited from the card, and within 10 minutes 50% of the cost of the trip will be returned to the account,” says a message on the Moscow mayor’s website.

The first 3,000 Aeroexpress passengers can receive a 50% discount on a Standard fare ticket. The bonus is valid when purchasing a ticket at the turnstile at Moscow airports. You won’t be able to save on family travel – one device with Android Pay – one ticket.

Nothing is known yet about the benefits for users from other regions of Russia. Their appearance depends on banks that will promote Android Pay in the cities where they operate.

Android Pay is live on November 1st. Okay, not so cheerfully: for some it does not work, for others it is not clear why it is needed in principle or in the case of Privat24 installed. We have collected in this article everything an inquisitive reader needs to know about Android Pay: which phones it works on, which it doesn’t, why and what are the key advantages of the service over Privat24. And how can you pay using a smartphone if it meets all the requirements, but for some reason the user can’t do it?

Which smartphones support Android Pay

For Android Pay to work, the smartphone must meet a number of criteria:

The smartphone has an NFC module
Smartphone OS no older than Android 4.4
Smartphone bootloader is not unlocked
Superuser rights have not been obtained on the smartphone
Original software (firmware) from the smartphone manufacturer is installed
Android Pay app installed

In other words, using any smartphone that passes this checklist without any problems, in theory you can pay using Android Pay.

How to find out if your smartphone has NFC

The easiest way to find out if your smartphone has NFC is on the box or instructions for it, or on the manufacturer’s website. You can also go to settings and look for the corresponding item in the “Wireless Networks” menu. It may be hidden in one of the sub-items, depending on the version of the OS or shell. In general, look for something like “NFC” or “NFC and payment.” If there is such an item, turn it on and use it; if not (and the smartphone meets the rest of the items from the list above) - most likely, your smartphone does not support NFC.

What to do if your smartphone does not have NFC

NFC cannot be emulated in software, required from support, or begged from parents. Without NFC, you won't be able to pay using your smartphone contactlessly.

Of course, my inner “Petrosyan” jokes about double-sided tape and a payment card with PaayPass or PayWave, but don’t do that: it’s not glamorous, not secure, and has nothing to do with Android Pay.

What to do if your smartphone has old Android (up to 4.4)

Update the OS (look for the corresponding item in the smartphone settings, or a special application from the manufacturer. A good option is to contact support or a service center, explaining that you want to update your smartphone so that it supports Android Pay.

What to do if your smartphone’s bootloader is unlocked, rooted, or beta or non-original firmware (“custom”) is installed

Return the original firmware, block (if possible) the bootloader, reset the phone to a new state, in the case of a rooted phone. You can definitely block an unlocked bootloader on smartphones from Google Nexus, on some Motorola - you can find out this on the manufacturer’s website, in support or on specialized forums. If you don’t have time to deal with this, it’s better to contact a service center.

Why these difficulties, you ask. Well, just think, root, bootloader unlocked, custom - my smartphone, I do what I want. And you’ll be right, the smartphone is yours, but in the case of working Android Pay, Google is responsible for the security of payments to the bank, and the bank is responsible to you. And all of the above factors are potential security holes. It's like Iron Man going to eat shawarma at a cafe near HYDRA headquarters without his suit and comic book buddies.

Your phone matches all the items on the list, Android Pay is installed and does not report an error, the card is linked, but you still can’t pay

First, check if Android Pay is set as your default payment option. Secondly, Google and its partner in launching Android Pay in Ukraine, Privatbank, add to the above requirements that in order to make payments, the smartphone must support HCE Wallet technology (“HCE Wallet”).

This is the technology that is responsible for emulating a payment card in a smartphone. In the NFC settings, look for the “Security Element Position” submenu, which will contain a number of items. If “Use HCE Wallet” is selected, but you cannot make payments (the terminal displays the message “Card is not registered” or “Insert a chip”), select “Use SIM Wallet”. For example, in Xiaomi Mi6 it was the only way to activate payment using Android Pay and Privat24.

What are the advantages of Android Pay over Privat24?

1. Less repetitive actions. To pay using Android Pay, you just need to unlock your smartphone; to pay Privat24, you need to unlock your smartphone, launch and unlock the Privat24 application. In case of poor connection or lack of access to the Internet (for example, in the subway), the application may take a long time to launch or may not launch at all.

2. Android Pay is intended not only for contactless payment, but also for “one-tap” payments online on sites and applications that support Android Pay.

3. With Android Pay, you are potentially not tied to one bank. At the time of the launch of Android Pay in Ukraine, the partner bank is only the state-owned PrivatBank, but it is obvious that over time this list will grow.

4. You can add discount and loyalty cards to Android Pay; they are immediately available when you launch the application. In Privat24 this functionality is hidden quite deep in the menu.

Innovative banking payment technologies are gradually spreading throughout the world, coming to new countries. Next up is Russia. On May 23, 2017, the long-awaited launch of Google Pay in Russia took place, which was previously called Android Pay. In this article we will talk about all the pros and cons of the payment system, we will figure out how to connect and configure Google Pay and which banks and smartphones support this technology.

Google Pay – what kind of technology is it and why is it needed?

Google Pay is a payment platform for Android smartphones from the famous American corporation Google, which was first launched in 2015. Today, this payment technology is already working in such large countries as the USA, Great Britain, Australia, Singapore, etc.

Many people ask what is the essence of this technology? Google Pay allows you to pay for your daily purchases using a smartphone or smart watch on the Android operating system in a contactless way, having previously “linked” a bank card from a bank that supports this technology.

The Google Pay payment platform is similar in principle to Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. But unlike the above systems, it has a number of advantages.

Pros and cons of a payment service

In order to understand how convenient this platform is and whether it is worth using, you need to understand what its advantages and disadvantages are for payments via the NFC module on the phone.

First, let's look at advantages of contactless paymentsGooglePay:

No need to carry plastic bank cards with you. To make payments, you just need to use your smartphone, without which most modern people do not leave home.
One smartphone instead of several payment cards. That is, you can “link” cards from several banks to Android Pay and, when paying, decide which card you want to make the payment from.
The fundamental advantage of Android Pay, unlike Apple and Samsung Pay, is that this system not tied to a specific smartphone brand. The main thing is that the smartphone runs on the Android operating system. And in the world, such smartphones account for about 85% of the entire smartphone market.
Payment speed. Paying physically with a bank card usually takes much longer than paying using a contactless method.
Payment security. Now this is one of the main aspects of using new payment technologies. Unlike paying with a bank card, firstly, they will not be able to copy your bank card, and secondly, the payment is confirmed using a fingerprint or a special code. In addition, data transfer during payment occurs in encrypted form and is reliably protected from fraudsters.
In addition to bank cards, you can add most loyalty cards, discount cards and other cards that you usually carry in your wallet to the GPay application.

Disadvantages of a contactless payment platform:

Unfortunately, so far Not all stores have a contactless payment system. But every year, the number of banks that support Google’s new product and the number of payment points that accept contactless payments, including Google Pay, is growing very quickly.
There is no option to use technology to withdraw cash. At least most ATMs in Russia are not configured to read contactless gadgets.
Smartphone ran out of charge - left without money. If you constantly use only your smartphone as a means of payment, and if the charge on your gadget runs out, you may be left without a means of payment.

So, in order to connect Google Pay, you must have a bank credit or debit card Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express from a bank that supports this technology, and also have a gadget technically suitable for contactless payment.

Banks supporting Google Pay in Russia

So which banks support GPay? As of May 23, 2018, you can connect cards from the following banks:

Sberbank
Opening
Promsvyazbank
Dot
MTS-Bank
Binbank
Rosselkhozbank
Yandex money
Some regional banks...

Every month the number of banks connected to the system is certainly increasing. A more detailed and up-to-date list? and also which cards can be added to the application can be found on the official website.

Devices that support paymentGoogle Pay

As already mentioned, unlike Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, the main condition for using the new technology is the Android operating system version 4.4 and higher, as well as the presence of an NFC module in the smartphone (a chip for contactless payment).

Attention! Many have encountered the problem that Google Play either does not find the corresponding application, or a message appears: “Not supported on your device.” This message is usually seen by those who bought their smartphone through Aliexpress. The fact is that such gadgets usually have unofficial firmware or root access. Therefore, on such devices, it will not be possible to install the GPay application (This applies to such Chinese brands as MEIZU, Xiaomi, Elephone, etc. purchased not in Russia).

The most affordable smartphones with an NFC module today are produced by the company HUAWEI under the HONOR brand. I myself am the owner of a gadget of this brand and I can say that contactless payments are made without any problems. Everything is just perfect, unlike Samsung of other brands, where glitches and freezes very often occur.

How to use Google Pay

So, if you have a card from a supported bank and a smartphone on the platform of the same name with an NFC module, then to pay with your smartphone you need:

Download the official Google Pay app from the Google App Store.
In the application settings, add “link” to the bank card of the supporting bank.
Set the main card for payments in the application settings (For example, if you have added several cards)
Also, in the settings of the NFC module of your smartphone, you must select the “Default” application for contactless payment. Choose Google Pay.

Directly at the store, payment is made in the standard way. When the cashier asks you to insert your card, you must unlock your smartphone and hold the back of your smartphone up to the bank terminal. Payment will be made from the bank card that you specified as your main one in the GPay application. If, at the time of payment, you want to make a payment from your other card, then simply open the GPay application, select one of the added cards and bring your phone to the terminal.

Below is a detailed video review about Google's contactless payment technology on Android smartphones.

Using Android Pay is an opportunity to make purchases in a convenient and safe way. Read on and you will learn how to pay for the things you need in stores and online applications using the Android Pay service.

How to pay using Android Pay in a store

So, you are in the store and are about to make a payment for the selected product using the Android Pay service. What do I need to do:

Thus, the payment is made from the default card.

How to change the main card?

You can add several cards from different banks to the application, and here are your actions if you need to pay for a purchase with an additional card:

Unlock your smartphone
Go to the Android Pay app, select and tap the card you want to use at the moment
Click "Set card as primary"
Next, follow the steps described in the previous instructions.

Errors when paying with Android Pay and what to do about them

Let's look at some problems that may arise when paying in store. If you encounter them, it’s okay, everything can be fixed.

You touched the device to the terminal, but payment does not occur

Forgot to wake up the phone from sleep mode. You don't need to open Android Pay, but your smartphone must be unlocked.
The NFC antenna did not pick up the signal. Just try changing the position of the phone relative to the terminal.
The smartphone was removed from the terminal too quickly. The operation is carried out within a few seconds, but still give a little time if this does not happen immediately. Wait for the green flag to appear.

You can find out about other problems and ways to solve them in our other article.

The smartphone began to vibrate and a green flag appeared on the screen

This reaction means that Android Pay transmitted payment information, but for some reason the terminal did not accept it. You can ask the cashier for help and try again.

You need to pay with a card with a chip, enter a PIN code

This means that the store does not accept payments through the application; you can only pay with a regular card.

Card declined

In this case, only the bank will help, since Google support does not have information about the reasons for the rejection of cards or any transactions on them.

How to pay via Android Pay online

To pay in applications, just one touch of your finger is enough to confirm your payment. Look for the mark “Payment with Android Pay” or a picture of a green robot.

Security of Android Pay transactions

The basis of transactions carried out through this service is the formation of a unique digital code, which is transmitted to the seller instead of your card data. This way, confidential information will not be available to anyone except you.