Android Pay begins testing the waters in Australia this week

Following hot on the heels of the Samsung Pay launch last week, it appears that Google’s much-anticipated contactless payment tech, Android Pay, is also about to hit Australia, according to an exclusive report from Ausdroid.

Select users from Australia’s major cities have already received invitations for an exclusive trial of Google’s NFC payment technology this week, with an eye on an impending launch in the very near future. The testing will go from now until Friday, June 24.

As for the official launch date, it would have to be quite soon if Google plans to keep the ‘first half of 2016’ deadline it set itself late last year.

Though the banks involved have yet to be named, we do know that Google has been working with ANZ, Westpac, Bank of Melbourne, Bank of South Australia, Bendigo Bank, Cuscal, ING DIRECT, Macquarie Bank, and St. George in the lead up to the Android Pay launch, with ANZ already secretly testing back in April.

• How to use Android Pay