Pay by Google makes online payment faster: Here’s how it works

Google rolled out a new payment solution called ‘Pay by Google’ on Monday. The new facility is in addition to Google’s existing Android Pay and Google Tez payment services. Pay by Google focuses on making online payment process faster and simpler for Google users.

Launched in the US, the service is currently available with select outlets such as Doordash, Eat24, Instacart, Kayak, Postmates, and Wish. The company will be soon adding more merchants including Airbnb, Papa John’s, and StubHub to the list.

For payment, Google has tied up with more than 40 payment providers which include PayPal’s Braintree, Stripe, Vantiv and Worldpay, among others. More payment partners are expected to join Google’s new platform.

How does Pay by Google work?

Google’s new payment service is based on the company’s Payment API which was introduced at the Google I/O developer conference in May this year. The API helped build a platform that can integrate the payment facility on merchants’ websites and even applications.

Interested merchants can implement the facility with “just a few lines of code.” Google says it will not levy any transaction fees.

So, how it does work?

The ‘Pay by Google’ feature essentially uses your payment data saved on Google products such as Google Play, YouTube, Android Pay or Chrome. Suppose, you have saved your credit card on any of these services, the ‘Pay by Google’ will unify all these data into a single interface.

This means when you make an online payment using ‘Pay by Google’, you won’t need to re-enter your card details or shipping address, making the process of checking out much faster and easier.

How is it different from Android Pay or Google Tez?

A native feature on Android, Google’s ‘Android Pay’ is quite similar to Apple Pay. It uses Near Field Connectivity (NFC) for the payment at Point of Sales (PoS) terminals. Customers need to save their credit, debit, loyalty, and gift cards to Android Pay to get started with the payment service. Android Pay is not available in India as yet.

Launched in India last month, Google Tez is essentially a mobile payment service that is based on the government’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI). Users can also transfer money through their bank accounts, QR code and phone number. Users can request for money from their friends. Google Tez is also available for businesses.