Not only did the 2018 I/O developer conference bring new updates with regards to Google’s upcoming Android P mobile operating system (whose beta can now be downloaded, provided you have a compatible smartphone device) and other really cool stuff, this year’s event also announced big upgrades for the tech giant’s own mobile payment system, Google Pay.
Evolving from the old Android Pay service (the rebranding was made official back in February early this year), Google Pay is about to get full support for peer to peer payment transactions in the primary Google Pay mobile app, support for online payments regardless of web browser, a new feature for displaying every payment in one place (as opposed to seeing only payments in-store), and support for tickets and boarding passes in the payment system’s application program interfaces (APIs), just to name a few.
According to Google, the new features are now starting to be implemented across the Google Pay platform. The support for peer to peer payment transactions is being rolled out to the Google Pay mobile app in the United States, as well as in the United Kingdom.
As explained by Gerardo Capiel, the product management head at Google Pay, a soon to be released updated to the Google Pay mobile app will soon let users manage all payment methods in their Google account, instead of just the payment methods that they utilize to facilitate in-store payment transactions.
On top of this, Google Pay will soon generate a more encompassing view of all the user’s transactions, not only those completed in Google’s apps and services (YouTube, Google Play), but also those made with third parties (Uber, Walgreens) and even peer to peer payments made to family and friends.
Other notable additions bound for Google Pay’s interface are the ability to transmit or request for cash, a feature that allows users to manage payment information linked to their Google accounts, and the ability to view their payment history on the Internet with the Google Pay mobile app for iOS, also.
For good measure, Google also introduced a new API that should help developers integrate the Google Pay service into third party mobile apps. The idea here is to speed up the check out process while expanding integration in third apps and websites, while making sure that the payment information saved with Google Pay is not compromised in any way.
Lastly, Google also took the opportunity to reveal that the Google Pay mobile app has now reached a hundred million downloads in Google Play. To date, Google Pay is made available in 18 mobile markets across the globe.
