Google Play: New Payments Soon For Android Wear

The Android Police recently spotted code in the newly released v10.0 of Google Play services, suggesting Android Wear may soon support contactless payment via Android Pay.

The same code reportedly suggests that the contactless feature is in widespread testing and likely scheduled for release soon. While it’s still mostly speculation, the two candidates for the upcoming addition of Android Pay reportedly include the Android Wear 2.0, set to be released sometime in early 2017, and Google’s own long-rumored smartwatch hardware.

As of now, the only contactless payment options on smartwatches are Samsung Pay on the Samsung Gear S3 and Apple Pay on the Apple Watch. The increased functionality could potentially boost smartwatch sales for Android.

A boost in smartwatch sales could be especially important in the coming months for the future of the wearable tech. Smartwatches saw a 52 percent decline in shipments in the third quarter of 2016. And despite the slower growth, Apple watches still led the rest in terms of total sales.

Most recently, Google launched Android Pay in Poland for MasterCard holders. Poland is the first country in central and eastern Europe and only the second country in Europe after the U.K. to launch the Google payment method. Payments made with Android Pay use tokenization technology provided by MasterCard Digital Enablement Service (MDES).