Android Pay hits Singapore – First in Asia!

Contactless payments has been one of the biggest buzzwords of 2016 and although Android Pay is late to the party in Singapore, they’ve clearly done their homework. With the service launching as of today (28 June 2016), it’s pretty much up to speed when it comes to getting all the local banks on board.

If you’re on DBS/POSB, OCBC, UOB and Standard Chartered credit cards, you’re good to go!

The best part about Android Pay would be its inclusiveness, even older phones can get a piece of the action. If you’re holding on to a phone that is NFC enabled and run Android KitKat 4.4 and above, you’ll be able to run Android Pay.

The only tricky thing is that if your device is rooted in any way, you’re probably not able to do so. A quick check reveals that even my aging LG G3 can be part of the party! However, as I’ve rooted my G3 to keep it speedy after all the updates, this device will be giving Android Pay a miss.

Thankfully, having moved on to the new Nexus 6P, I shouldn’t expect any issues at all considering it’s pure Android. Fingers crossed though.

One feature that Google has trumpeted would be additional implementation of reward cards. We all know that if you’re willing to lug around all those cards, there’s always good deals to be found or points to be earned. NTUC’s Link’s Plus! Rewards Programme and CapitaLand’s CAPITASTAR cards have been name dropped and I do hope many more do come on-board else there’s little to differentiate the various contactless payment providers.

Sadly, no mention of using Android Pay for public transport services yet but it looks promising considering UK accepts Android pay for theirs.

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Here’s a quick summary of all the services in a snapshot: