Android Pay now available in the UK

[PhoneChanger]

Android Pay is now available in the UK, the application can be downloaded from the UK Google Play store. I have downloaded and sucessfully added cards from my providers.

[jonsie]

The terminals in the pharmacy and Morrisons, though contactless, just wouldn't read the cards even with the app open. Maybe the terminals need to be NFC enhanced but I would have thought they wouldn't need any change. I had to pay by the same card physically and the card worked fine just waving it over the terminals..

[Bambino]

Which phone are you using? Are you sure you had NFC enabled on the phone?

There are a fair few banks that haven't come on board yet.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/05/18/barclays-has-no-plans-to-support-android-pay/

[jonsie]

I was using the Note 4 and NFC was definitely enabled. It was a contactless card so it should have worked but swiping the phone and turning it upside down, back to front or physically touching the paypoint made no difference, not a flicker of recognition!

[viridis]

@jonsie, check the contacts on battery cover for the NFC are clean.
Even if no card data transferred the NFC should still have thrown up a Read error message at least

[viridis]

Or is it on battery on Sammys. I can't remember tbh

[MI5]

Yeah chip is under the battery wrapper assuming you are using a genuine battery?

[viridis]

Anyhoo the official word is:
To pay you just need to wake device up and place on sensor.
For some transactions you will need to unlock it.

That's from the "how it works" section of the app.

[jonsie]

I think it's on the cover. I've just this week bought a wireless charging s-cover so I suppose that it could be at fault?

[Bambino]

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@viridis wrote:
Anyhoo the official word is:
To pay you just need to wake device up and place on sensor.
For some transactions you will need to unlock it.

That's from the "how it works" section of the app.

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Except @viridis I've just found this quote from this article: http://www.knowyourmobile.com/mobile-phones/android-pay/23291/android-pay-finally-arrives-uk-googles...

"It’s important to note that if your phone supports fingerprint authentication, you’ll be able to use your fingerprint to confirm the purchase instead of having to unlock your phone. If your phone doesn’t have a fingerprint reader, you’ll need to manually unlock your phone before each payment. Google has built in this manual unlock requirement so your Android device doesn’t accidentally process a payment when it’s within range of an NFC terminal."

How else do you wake a device unless you unlock it?

Edit: In the set up instructions in the app it says: "If you're not using a screen lock on your device yet, you'll have to set one up to use Android Pay"

I've also just found something that I saw earlier but couldn't find it again until now. In order to use the app, not only does the phone need to support NFC, but also something called HCE (Host Card Emulation). Most phones have it built in with NFC, but some don't. They are:

Evo 4g LTE

Nexus 7 (2012)

Samsung Galaxy Note III

Samsung Galaxy S3

Samsung Galaxy Light

You also can't use Android Pay if you've enrolled in Samsung MyKnox. It would have to be disabled.

[viridis]

Wake just means screen on, unlock accesses the home screen.
I'm just repeating what it said in the app