Yesterday, Android Pay officially launched with eight total banks supported, across four payment networks: American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa. One of the most common banks was unfortunately left unavailable for those attempting to add cards to their Android Pay wallet yesterday, but now that bank — Wells Fargo — is officially supporting the new mobile payments service.
As per yesterday’s announcement, Wells Fargo would be coming “in the next few days.”
American Express, Bank of America, Discover, Navy Federal Credit Union, PNC, Regions Bank, USAA, and U.S. Bank. Wells Fargo will be available in the next few days, Capital One and Citi are coming soon, and we’re adding new banks all the time.
Now, as I can independently confirm myself, Wells Fargo cards can be added to Android Pay just fine.
Android Pay has fairly decent support across banks as well as retail locations that are taking the service, but there are some odd exclusions. For instance, Chase, which is one of the “Big Four” and has more than 5,100 branches and 16,100 ATMs nationwide, still doesn’t support Android Pay. Other banks, including Bancorp-backed Simple (which has confirmed its intentions on Twitter), as well as Citi and Capital One, are slated to be coming soon.
In case you aren’t aware, the Android Pay app is coming as an update to the already-existing Google Wallet app. You can grab the new version on the Play Store soon. Google Wallet, which no longer has support for tap-to-pay, can now be found on the Play Store as its own newly-redesigned app.
Here’s the full press release:
SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Starting today, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (NYSE:WFC) customers will be able to use an Android mobile device to use Android Pay to conveniently make purchases at over one million merchant locations nationwide. Customers with an Android device running KitKat (4.4) or higher can simply unlock their device, place it over a payment terminal that accepts contactless payments, and pay for goods and services with the security of a consumer Wells Fargo Debit or Credit Card, or Small Business Debit Card. The new feature will be rolling out to customers gradually over the next few days.
“Today, we’re pleased to participate in Android Pay, increasing the availability of mobile payments to millions of Android device-loving Wells Fargo customers. This represents the latest offering in our commitment to give customers new, innovative ways to pay safely and easily, how and where they want”
After a customer makes a payment with Android Pay using their Wells Fargo card, they then receive a payment confirmation and transaction details on their phone. All transactions are monitored with Wells Fargo risk and fraud detection systems, and Wells Fargo Credit Cards and Debit Cards are protected by Zero Liability, which means customers are not responsible if they promptly report unauthorized transactions.
“Today, we’re pleased to participate in Android Pay, increasing the availability of mobile payments to millions of Android device-loving Wells Fargo customers. This represents the latest offering in our commitment to give customers new, innovative ways to pay safely and easily, how and where they want,” said Jim Smith, head of Virtual Channels for Wells Fargo.
Recent survey data from the Federal Reserve highlights the way 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 more information, including which merchants currently accept Android Pay, visit Google’s news announcement.
Google is testing a new “card” for its Google Now service that would display local news that’s contextually relevant to the user. It’s not something that users have been able to try out just yet,