“Google has joined with secure element (SE) vendors to launch the Android Ready SE Alliance to accelerate the adoption of new use cases for Android devices including digital car keys and mobile IDs. The alliance is creating and rolling out a set of open source, validated and ready-to-use SE applets for use in conjunction with tamper-resistant hardware, including a general availability version of the Android StrongBox for SE keystore implementation.”

“The new Google Pay app came out of beta this week, and it marks the first step in a major upheaval in the Google Pay service. Existing Google Pay users are about to go through a transition reminiscent of the recent move from Google Music to YouTube Music: Google is killing one perfectly fine service and replacing it with a worse, less functional service. The fun, confusing wrinkle here is that the new and old services are both called “Google Pay.” Allow us to explain.”

“Android users in regions other than the UK, Ireland, France and Brazil will soon be able to find and download real-money gambling apps from the Play Store. Google has updated its program policy allowing apps that “enable or facilitate online gambling” in 15 more countries, including the US, starting on March 1st.”

“Google Pay already works with about 3,000 partners, but that doesn’t hinder it from continuing to support more banks and credit unions. After adding 89 financial institutions to the list last month, the mobile payment service just added another 67 just in the US.”

“Today, Google Pay for both Android and iOS is relaunching with a giant array of new features. It turns the app from something that most people think of as a tap-to-pay card repository or peer-to-peer payment system into a much more ambitious service. The new app begins rolling out across the United States today.”

“Flagship smartphones have gotten substantially more expensive in the last few years, so many OEMs and carriers offer payment programs to give consumers the option of paying a fraction of the price each month over a period of 24 or more months. But what do you do if something unexpected happens and you can’t make a payment for a month or two?”

“Google said it would no longer allow any apps to circumvent its payment system within the Google Play store that provides the company a cut of in-app purchases. Google said in a blog post on Monday that it was providing “clarity” on billing policies because there was confusion among some developers about what types of transactions require use of its app store’s billing system.”

“Google is rolling out a new update to the Google Pay app on Android that redesigns the mobile payments app. The new design strips the app of its lower bottom tab menu and moves all options to the hamburger menu (yes, Google’s shifting a focus on that after shifting away from hamburgers for the past few years.)”

“Passport, a transportation software company that enables cities to manage vehicle interactions with streets and sidewalks, is innovating with Google to enable people in Austin, Texas to pay for parking directly from Google Maps. This feature will start rolling out later today and will become widely available in the coming weeks.”

“Bank of Ireland has launched the Bank’s first digital wallet, Google Pay, enabling customers to add personal debit, credit cards and business debit cards to the Google Pay digital wallet. Google Pay is a digital wallet platform and online payment system developed by Google to power in-app and tap-to-pay purchases on mobile devices. Bank of Ireland customers can now add their cards to Google Pay and start using it for payments in stores, online, and with Google products.”

“Google is working with payment processor Stripe to bring TouchID-authenticated payments to the web. The feature, which would prompt users to enroll their credit cards after they completed a normal purchase, is currently in Original Trail testing. After users are enrolled, they will be able to complete payments faster in the future by authenticating with TouchID rather than their 3-digit CVV. In the background, the service uses 3D Secure 2.0 authentication for credit card payments through Stripe and Google’s WebAuthn to Pay.”

“Google Pay support is ever expanding among financial institutions, and that’s both the case in the US and the rest of the world . As such, we’ve compiled a list of the latest international banks that have added their credit and debit cards to Google’s contactless payment service, coming in at a total of 25 institutions across 14 (mostly European) countries.”

“India’s antitrust body is looking into allegations that Alphabet Inc’s Google is abusing its market position to unfairly promote its mobile payments app in the country, five sources familiar with the case told Reuters. The complaint was filed in February and the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has kept the identity of the complainant confidential, the first source with direct knowledge of the case said. The complaint alleges the U.S. tech giant more prominently showcases its Google Pay app inside its Android app store in India, giving it an unfair advantage over apps of competitors which hurts consumers, the source added.”