Google launched its mobile payments service, Android Pay, just six weeks ago, but it is not wasting any time to gain more customers for its service. It now plans to offer incentives to those who use the app again and again.
Google wants you to use Android Pay more
Google, which launched Android Pay in the U.S. early in September with the purpose of taking on Apple Pay, plans to introduce a new loyalty programs for brands like Coca-Cola, says a report from Re/Code. Sridhar Ramaswamy, Google’s SVP of ads and commerce, informed the website of this on Monday at the Money20/20 event in Las Vegas.
In June at WWDC 2015, Apple introduced the ability to store loyalty cards in Apple Pay for several popular retailers such as JCPenney, Kohls, Walgreens, and Dunkin’ Donuts. But Google’s Android Pay program is slightly different. Since its launch, Android Pay users have the option to store loyalty cards. “Android Pay also stores your gift cards, loyalty cards, and special offers right on your phone,” Google mentioned in a press release at the time.
In the new incentive program, Android Pay will initially work with purchases made from Coca-Cola’s NFC-enabled vending machines. Android Pay will make it possible for users to accumulate loyalty points in the payment process by touching their smartphone to the payment point. This enables users to redeem their points for a free Coke at some point in the future.
A small step could get big down the line
Though it is small move from Google now, it will have more partners on board further down the line. As of now, it is not clear how it will be implemented with Coca-Cola within the app. Google has not made any official announcement about the loyalty program, but since the comments have come from Ramaswamy, who was speaking at a major fintech conference, it wouldn’t be wrong to expect it to be rolled out soon.
Google has not yet revealed the number of users who have linked their credit cards to Android Pay, but Ramaswamy did mention that it is in the millions. In comparison, it is believed that around 200 million users in China have linked their credit cards with WeChat’s mobile payments service.
