Android Pay getting festive for the holidays, especially in the UK

December 5, 2016

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android_pay_holiday_designs

Google has been seeing good success with their Android Pay framework and service since rolling it out last May. According to Google, it is especially popular in the UK and to help celebrate the progress, timed nicely with the holiday season, Android Pay users have some special features and opportunities they can take advantage of through the end of the year.

One new feature is the launch of “shop. tap. reward.” According to Google, using Android Pay in a UK based store or on the Transport for London system will yield a “cracker” potentially holding one of 100,000 available gift cards. Some of the vendors making gifts available include Costa Coffee, ODEON Cinemas, House of Fraser and Currys PC World. If users have no luck with the crackers, they will also find that after five uses of Android Pay, they will get a virtual coin, and after users collect five coins they earn a gift card for Costa Coffee.

To help users get around, Android Pay has partnered with both Transport for London and Uber for some new features and specials. For Transport for London, Android Pay now provides a notification on the following day if a user forgets to tap out of the system leaving themselves with an incomplete journey. By paying attention to the notification, users can get a refund. Android Pay and Transport for London have also teamed up to provide a daily travel summary, including station names and bus numbers, within the Android Pay app.

If a user opts to go the Uber route, they will find that in the UK they can now pay for Uber using Android Pay. To help generate interest and usage of Android Pay for Uber rides, later this week users will be able to take advantage of a special 50% off, up to £5 per ride, on their next 10 rides.

In case you were worried about UK users being the only ones seeing anything special, users in the other six countries where Android Pay is available will find some special animations coming up when they tap and pay during the upcoming weeks. There are four designs already revealed by Google and they say more will surface.

source: Google

Jeff Causey Author

Raised in North Carolina, Jeff Causey is a licensed CPA in North Carolina. Jeff's past Android devices include an HTC EVO, a Samsung Note II, an LG G3, and a Motorola Moto X Pure Edition along with a Samsung Galaxy Tablet 10.1. He currently uses a Samsung Galaxy S8 and (very rarely) a Nexus 7 (2013). He is also using a Verizon-branded Motorola Moto Z Play Droid supplied by his job. Jeff used to have a pair of Google Glass and a Moto 360 Sport in his stable of gadgets. Unfortunately, his kids have all drunk the Apple Kool-Aid and have i-devices. Life at home often includes demonstrations of the superiority of his Android based devices. In his free time, Jeff is active an active runner usually training for his next marathon, owns a Mazda MX-5 Miata, and plays Dungeons & Dragons. Jeff has three grown kids and a golden retriever.