Signs of Life For Android Pay in Canada: Interac Imagery Added in Version 1.7
There has been a lot of background activity recently surrounding Android Pay’s global rollout, and an additional sign of the work that Google is putting in to prepare for their Canadian launch has just surfaced in Android Pay version 1.7. Android Pay now contains the first stages of Interac support.
The additions to the Android Pay app are relatively small, just the Interac logo and one line of code (“<string name=”tp_interac”>Interac</string>”), but they are a sign of what is going on behind the scenes. Google is in negotiations with the local banks (and with Interac), and has been rumoured to be working on bringing Android Pay to Canada some time this year (although that is a deadline that may end up being missed, much like how Samsung Pay and Apple Pay ran into difficulties in Canada). It will be exciting to see what happens when Android Pay reaches Canada, especially with Canada’s high adoption rate for tap to pay debit and credit cards (which are compatible with Android Pay).
For those that aren’t familiar with the Canadian banking environment, Interac is a non-profit joint venture between the major Canadian banks, which handles the standardization of interbank transactions in Canada, especially for Debit cards. There are over 59,000 ATMs, 83 banks, and 450,000 stores that use Interac in Canada, making it the de facto standard.
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