Google Wallet is still in the trenches fighting to compete with digital payment behemoth Apple Pay, but now Google is rumored to be working on a new way to rival its biggest competitor on the mobile payments space.
An unnamed source told Ars Technica on Wednesday (Feb. 25) that the technology firm will reveal a new payments API this May at the Google I/O conference. According to reports, the new API would be named Android Pay and integrate itself into companies’ apps as a mobile payment option, but will also be available to use at physical retail checkouts.
Users will upload credit or debit card information to Android Pay, allowing for single-tap payments within apps or tap-to-pay functionality at brick-and-mortar locations.
The new API isn’t a replacement for Google Wallet, however. The source told reporters that Google Wallet would run on Android Pay and remain a separate operation within Google. Reports note that Google Wallet currently operates on the Instant Buy API, which currently integrates into mobile applications with a “Buy with Google” button. The source did not indicate whether Google would phase out the Instant Buy API.
Android Pay, reports say, will be built “from the ground up” using Google’s Host Card Emulation, which allows third-party apps to use Near Field Communications chips installed in Android phones, reports say.
Google does not yet have a partner in the rumored Android Pay partner. Reports of the new API come in the same week that Google announced the acquisition of SoftCard, formerly Isis, a mobile payments solutions provider. The takeover connects Google to Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile and, according to reports, will see Google paying the wireless providers to enable Google Wallet on smartphones running Google’s Android OS.
The acquisition is Google’s latest achievement in pushing for Google Wallet adoption. The wireless operators had previously prevented Google Wallet’s use of NFC chips in smartphones they sold, a feud that put a significant dent into the mobile payment product’s market traction.