Android Pay is now available in the United Kingdom
Google has officially launched its new mobile payments service in the United Kingdom. The company is looking to compete with others in the mobile commerce space with its Android Pay platform, which has found modest success in the United States. This is Google’s first entry into the mobile commerce market, of course, as it released its Google Wallet platform some years ago. The rapidly changing market has pressured Google to launch a new service, however, which is where Android Pay comes into play.
Mobile commerce is growing quickly in the UK
The United Kingdom is a very attractive market for mobile commerce. Many consumers in the country are using their smartphones to shop online and purchase products in physical stores, taking advantage of the services that are available to them. The Android Pay service is the latest such service, which can be used by those with accounts with most of the UK’s major banks and credit card issuers. A growing number of retailers are beginning to rely on mobile payments services as well, which is creating new opportunities for platforms such as Android Pay.
Android Pay continues to fight for a foothold in the mobile commerce space
Android Pay was launched last September in the United States and Google notes that it has signed 1.5 million people up for the service every month since then. Despite this, however, Android pay has struggled to find a foothold in the country. While the service is equipped with effective security features, many consumers in the United States are still not comfortable with the concept of mobile commerce. This is not the case in the United Kingdom, where many people have shown favor with being able to pay for products with their mobile devices.
Google to face more competition in the UK
Android Pay has managed to attract significant support from businesses in the UK, but it will still have to compete with other, more established mobile payments services in order to find success. One of Google’s major competitors in this market is Apple, which launched its own payments service in the UK in July of last year. Samsung, another player in the mobile commerce field, is also coming to the UK with its own payment service in the near future, which will further increase competition.
It companies in the United States’ mobile commerce market want to succeed, they may have to focus on ubiquity. This is something that the UK market has accomplished quite well. The country is home to the most heavily concentrated banking and acquiring segments and retailers in the country serve a very well defined geographic market. Barclays, one of the country’s largest banks, accounts for more than 40% of all credit and debit card spending. The country also has a multitude of merchant acquire options. What this means is that if Barclays backs mobile transactions, it is extremely easy for retailers to accept payments being made from mobile devices, something that is not readily apparent in the U.S. market.