Wells Fargo & Co. has announced that its retail customers soon will be able to use PayPal to make purchases with their NFC-enabled Android device at participating merchants whose payment terminals are set up to accept NFC payments.

"We're looking to enable payments for our customers' mobile-driven lives, and this upcoming capability allows us to further engage the millions of Wells Fargo customers who use their debit and credit cards on PayPal to seamlessly make mobile and online, and now in-store, purchases," Jim Smith, Wells Fargo head of virtual channels, said in a press release. "New mobile payment experiences like the one we announced today create unique value propositions for Wells Fargo customers who use PayPal."

Mobile banking is the fastest growing channel in Wells Fargo's history, with more than 20 million active customers, the release said. Of these, Android customers are said to be the most active, logging in for an average of 16 sessions per month.

Wells Fargo cited survey data from the Federal Reserve indicating that mobile devices are changing the way consumers make payments; 22 percent of all mobile phone owners reported having made a mobile payment in the 12 months prior to the survey, up from 17 percent in 2013 and 15 percent in 2012.

For Wells Fargo, these statistics are borne out in the growth rate of its mobile channel, which is twice that of its online channel, the release said.