SINGAPORE: Android Pay is now available in Singapore market in support with the master card and visa card. It is a contactless smartphone payment solution and Singapore will be the first Asian market to gain access to Android Pay.

Android device users across the country can now link up their cards to their phones and tablets, which they can use for tapping payments. Google has partnered with several banks in the area including DBS, OCBC Bank, POSB, Standard Chartered Bank and UOB. Both MasterCard and Visa cards fromthose banks will be supported as well. To pay, a user just needs to “wake” his or her phone — without having to unlock it — and hold it towards the payment terminal. For each successful purchase, the user will get a notification on the phone with the transaction details.

The platform allows consumers who have Android devices running on the KitKat 4.4 (or newer) operating system and equipped with Near-Field Communication (NFC) chips to pay via their mobile phones at an extensive list of more than 280 brand merchants, such as supermarket chains Cold Storage and Sheng Siong, electronics store Challenger, and various food and fashion outlets.

As a security measure, Android Pay users will receive a prompt to enter their passwords before every fourth transaction. Android Pay also plans to go beyond payments to include other services such as enabling consumers to accumulate loyalty points and offering location-based offers.