A Full Account on Android Pay – What is it? How it Works?
Android Pay is like an online bank that helps you to make payment for your purchases through your Android smartphone via Credit Card Terminal. But this mechanism is not compatible with every smartphone that is available in the market. Also not all banks support Android Pay. So I would like give some tips on the mechanism of Android Pay along with its compatibility details.
Smartphones Supporting Android Pay
Android Pay works finely on smartphones with Android v4.4 KitKat and above. Other requisites are your smartphone must have NFC connectivity (Near Field Communication) as well as HCE capability (Host Card Emulation). Most of the latest devices possess NFC. This can be checked by going to Connection Settings, where you can find the option to enable NFC. But finding whether your device has HCE is quite difficult. The best thing that you can do it attempt to download Android Pay app. If your device supports HCE, then you will be able to download it, otherwise it would display that your device isn’t compatible.
Banks Supporting Android Pay
Another requisite is the approval from banks. If you want to have benefits of Android Pay it has to be supported by banks. There are a lot of banks that supports Android Pay. Banks like America First Federal Credit Union, Bank of America, Citi, Discover, Financial Center Federal Credit Union, Georgia United Credit Union, PNC, US Bank, Utah Community Federal Credit Union are quite few of the list.
Usability of Android Pay
Android Pay can be conveniently used in any shops equipped with NFC supported Credit Card Terminals. This is quite a shortcoming for Android Pay’s wide acceptability.Android also backs loyalty cards for your most preferred places and also alerts you when you are nearby those places. It’s competitor, Samsung pay relies on Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST). This will be quite challenging for Android Pay, since MST is just an old school stuff which is available in any ordinary shops where cards are used to be swept.
Setting-Up and Using Android Pay
Before you begin to use Android Pay you have to follow the below given steps for its effective functioning. You have to make ready the app and add the credit as well as debit cards to it along with enough security.
- First of all you have to open Android Pay app.
- If your device is locked, then you have to enter into your Google Account to unlock it. There you may be required to set-up an advanced security option to ensure the security of your money.
- There you can see an Add Button, which have to press inorder to add new card to the account. If you hold a credit card linked with your Google Account, you will be required to provide certain details before adding cards. In all other cases you are free to add your credit card as well as debit card to your Android Pay.
- Whenever you want to make the payment, you have to unlock the device and tap your smartphone to Android or NFC supported logo on the terminal. Your transaction completes when a check mark appears just above your card.
Precautions
Using mobile for making payment accompanies with risks also. Android Pay has perfect solution for this. Whenever you use Android Pay for making payment, it creates a virtual number which is known as token which will be entirely different from original card number. This will be expired automatically as soon as the transaction ends.
