Barclays won't support Android Pay in the UK

Barclays has confirmed to techradar that it has no plans to support the Android Pay contactless payment service when it finally launches in the UK.

Google confirmed today that Android Pay will launch "in the next few months", but the service will only be available to customers of a limited number of banks at launch, with big names such as NatWest, Santander and Barclays missing from the list.

We spoke to Barclays to see if there was a change of heart when it comes to external contactless payment solutions. Unfortunately it confirmed it has no plans to support the Android Pay if the short term.

A Barclays spokesperson told techradar: "At this stage we are not planning on participating in Android Pay in the UK." Instead Barclays will be putting a bigger focus on its Barclaycard Android app (for phones on Android 4.4.2 and above), which enables customers to make contactless payments without Android Pay.

"In January this year we introduced a contactless mobile payment feature to the Barclaycard Android app that allows customers with an Android phone to make contactless payments for £30 and under, and at some retailers for up to £100, using their mobile device," the Barclays spokesperson said.

"Alongside this they can manage their account on the go and have lost, stolen and damaged cards instantly replaced onto their phone." This only applies to Barclaycard credit card customers, and those with debit cards are still out in the cold.

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There's better news for Santander and Natwest customers though, as the banks have confirmed to techradar that they're actively pursuing the new contactless platform.

"Santander UK is aware of the launch and is actively working with Google to enable its customers to have access to Android Pay later in 2016," a spokesperson told us. "We will be able to tell our customers more about the timings of this in the coming months."

Meanwhile Natwest said "Although we won't be introducing Android Pay at its launch, we will be making an announcement about our involvement as soon as we can."

We've updated this article to reflect new statements from other banks.

• Android Pay nears UK release, but only some banks will be supported