Android Pay Available In Canada

Interac announced in a press release Wednesday (May 31) the launch of Interac Debit on Android Pay, the mobile payment service by Google, with consumers holding debit cards issued by BMO Financial Group, CIBC, Desjardins and Scotiabank able to make purchases using Android Pay.

According to a report in TechCrunch, the digital payment service was launched with a bunch of major banks supporting the payment method and more banks being added in the near future. Earlier in May, Google teased the fact that Android Pay was coming to Canada during its I/O developer conference keynote.

Consumers with eligible Android devices running KitKat (4.4) or higher can use Interac Debit on Android Pay to make fast, secure and convenient mobile contactless transactions at hundreds of thousands of merchant locations across Canada.

“We’re excited to team up with Google, as well as our participating financial institution partners, to bring Interac Debit on Android Pay to Canadians,” said Mark O’Connell, president and CEO, Interac Association and Acxsys Corporation. “As the payment landscape evolves, we strive to offer Canadians innovative and seamless payment experiences that are fast, secure and increasingly more digital. The launch of Android Pay in Canada will give Interac debit cardholders yet another way to pay using their own money.”

In addition to launching with the support of major banks in Canada, Android Pay also has support for Visa and Mastercard credit cards and Interac debit cards. The banks supporting it at the launch include BMO, CIBC and Scotiabank, ATB Financial, PC Financial, Desjardins, Banque Nationale and ATB Financial.

Interac’s payment network has one of the lowest fraud rates in both debit and credit. When a cardholder adds Interac Debit to Android Pay, a Device Account Number is created for that card, which is unique to the device and distinct from the physical card number. All transactions go through the Interac Token Service Provider (TSP), a proprietary token platform that generates a sequence of numbers valid for a single transaction only.

“We’re excited to bring the simplicity and security of mobile payments to Interac Debit customers with Android Pay, starting on Monday” said Pali Bhat, global head of payments, Google. “People will be able to use their Android device to pay at hundreds of thousands of contactless payment terminals in Canada.”

Paysafe announced that it is one of the first payment service providers in Canada to launch in-app Android Pay features to its Canadian-based merchants. American Express and Tangerine support for Android Pay are coming in the summer. TechCrunch noted that RBC and TD Bank, among the largest banks in Canada, are notably absent. RBC and TD Bank currently support Apple Pay.

During an event announcing the launch of Android Pay in Canada, the company said the progress the payment method is making is the result of a lot of work bringing together and making happy a bunch of stakeholders, including merchants, payment networks, financial institutions and consumers. Google doesn’t charge a transaction fee to anyone involved that uses Android Pay, noted the report.

Less than a week ago, Google announced Android Pay has made its way to Russia, providing the ability for consumers to use that payment method in thousands of places in Russia, including Magnit, Perekrestok, Starbucks, KFC and Rosneft already accepting the service.

What’s more, consumers in Russia shopping online with apps such as Lamoda, OneTwoTrip or Rambler-Kassa can checkout with Android Pay and don’t have to worry about entering payment details. Google said it teamed with several payment processors in the country to make it easier for Russian merchants to accept Android Pay.