Google has been trying to sneak into our lives in many different ways for years. Among them, is to become our preferred payment method, something that the company based in Mountain View and tried several years ago with the now-defunct Google Wallet platform, and later, in 2015, with Android Pay.
But at the beginning of the year 2018, Google decided to restart its payment platforms and services and to start a new era with a tool that encompasses all the attempts that had been carried out so far in order to face other payment services. mobile phones such as Samsung Pay or Apple Pay. That’s how, from a merger between Android Pay and Google Wallet, Google Pay was born.
Today, Google Pay is already one of the most popular and used mobile payment platforms, mainly among Android users. However, there are still those who have not dared to make the leap and start using this useful and convenient tool, mainly due to ignorance about the platform and its operation. For this reason, in this guide, we will clarify all doubts about Google Pay, as well as offer you all the information you need to know about the payments service big G.
What Google Pay is and how it works
To say that Google Pay is just a mobile payment service would be to lie. It is true that, as a natural substitute for Android Pay, Google Pay was conceived as a platform through which users could make payments through their mobile, smartwatch or any Android device with NFC. However, over the months the company has included new and useful features such as the possibility of adding boarding passes for flights or tickets to events, sending money easily between individuals and more that is to come.
Google Pay is more than a payment platform. In addition to making purchases, the application allows you to add boarding passes and tickets to events, loyalty cards, send money to friends and family, and more.
But let’s start at the beginning. After all, the vast majority of Google Pay users will use the platform for which it was created: make payments in stores with their phones. For this, the application is based on contactless technology through the NFC chip of the devices in which it is executed, so that it is possible to make payments in practically any location where credit or debit cards are accepted with this technology – although I will talk about the places that accept Google Pay later on.
In addition, Google Pay is the default payment gateway used in other company services, such as Google Store or Google Play Store. There are also applications and online stores external to Google that accept payments through Google Pay so that it is possible to use the payment data stored on the platform to make purchases.
Is it safe to use Google Pay?
Totally. After all, Google Play works in the same way as a physical credit or debit card – it brings the mobile or smartwatch to the dataphone and boom, your money is no longer there – and shares the same information with the store that would be shared when buying with a card. However, to ensure that the user’s bank details are kept safe throughout the entire transaction process, Google Play relies on a system of virtual account numbers.
Each Google Pay user has a virtual account number, and these are a kind of temporary “alias” that is used as the identifier of the user’s actual bank account number. In this way, when paying in a store, whether online or physical, the virtual account number is shared and not the real one, thus keeping private information safe at all times.
How to set up Google Pay: add credit cards and other payment methods
Setting up Google Pay is a simple and fast process, which can be carried out in different ways depending on how the platform is going to be used.
On your Android mobile or tablet with the Google Pay app
If you have an Android phone with NFC, and you want to start using Google Pay as a mobile payment service in physical stores, as well as store your loyalty cards and other documentation compatible with the app, you just have to follow a few simple steps:
- Download the Google Pay app, for free, through the Google Play Store.
- On the main page of the app, click on the “Payment” tab located in the lower toolbar.
- Click on the blue “Payment method” button.
- Point with the camera of the mobile to the credit or debit card to enter the data, or add them manually.
Normally, Google Pay needs to verify that the credit card is correct, and for this, the banks send a text message to the telephone number associated with the bank account, with a code that must be entered in the Google Pay app. Once this step is completed, the payment method will be added correctly and it will be possible to make purchases using the card that has just been configured.
From the computer through the browser
If your mobile phone does not have NFC and you think you will not use the application, you also have the possibility to configure Google Pay from the browser on a computer. For this, the steps are similar to those that have been followed in the previous process:
- Open the Google Pay website, and sign in with your Google account.
- In the side toolbar, go to the “Payment methods” section.
- Click on “Add payment method” and enter the information of the credit or debit card you want to configure.
Obviously, having Google Pay on your computer will not be much use when making mobile payments. However, this option can be useful when making purchases in those pages and websites that accept the Google platform as a payment method.
All banks compatible with Google Pay
The adoption of Google Pay by banks continues to move forward -relatively- slowly, but surely. At least in Spain. Today, in our country there are already 11 banks that accept the use of Google Pay with their cards and services. They are the following:
Banks and entities compatible with Google Pay in Spain
- BBVA
- Edenred
- American Express Spain
- Openbank
- Prepaid Financial Services
- N26
- Sodexo
- Revolut
- Bankia
- Mediolanum Bank
- Banca March
- Rebellion
Banks and entities compatible with Google Pay in South America
Currently, only two countries in South America have banking entities compatible with Google’s payment service. They are Brazil and Chile :
Brazil
- Banco do Brasil
- Caixa
- Porto Seguro
- Neon payments
- Brazil Pré-Pagos
- Banrisul
- Bradesco
- Next
Chile
- CMR Falabella
Banks and entities compatible with Google Pay in the United States
- AMEX
- BAC
- Barclays US
- BBVA Compass
- Capital one
- Chase
- CITI
- Discover
- Green Dot
- HSBC
- NFCU
- PNC
- Regions
- Synchrony
- USAA
- US Bank
- Wells Fargo
In addition to the countries mentioned, Google Pay is available in other regions: Germany, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Sweden, Taiwan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom. The list of banks compatible with Google Play in each country is available on the official Google Pay support page.
Stores, applications and web pages compatible with Google Pay
According to Google, it is possible to make purchases through Google Pay in millions of stores and stores. To check if a place accepts payments through Google Pay, you just have to look for the contactless payment symbols or the icon of the application itself:
If so, at the time of making the payment will be enough to bring the mobile phone with the screen on – you do not even have to open the Google Pay app – and wait until the transaction has been made correctly. Among many others, these are some of the stores that accept payments with the mobile using the Google service in Spain :
- 100 montaditos
- The English Court
- FNAC
- Lidl
- Media Markt
- PCComponents
- Repsol
- Starbucks
- Bershka
- BriCor
- Cortefiel
- FiftyFactory
- FrescCo
- Fridays
- GINOS
- Hipercor
- H & M
- Sfera
- The Southern
- Marco Aldany
- Massimo Duty
- RIBS
- Stradivarius
- TGB
- ZARA
And when making purchases online, either through the mobile from the application or on the computer through the website of the store, in some cases it is also possible to use Google Pay. This is useful because in some cases it will not be necessary to have to enter the bank details again, but they will be directly associated with the Google account. Some of the web pages and applications that accept Google Pay in Spain are the following:
- ASOS (only through the Android app )
- AirBNB
- Deliveroo
- Groupon
- Privalia
- Ticketmaster
- Uber
- Vueling
- ZARA
- Etsy
- Fandango
- Hotel Tonight