Android Pay is now available in Japan

By Jon Russell for TechCrunch

Android Pay continues its international rollout with a launch in Japan today, some six weeks after Apple’s own mobile payment service reached Japanese shores.

Google has partnered with Rakuten to power Android Pay using its Rakuten Edy payment system, which is available at over 470,000 locations in the country, including stores like Family Mart, Lawson, McDonald’s and Dominos. There’s also support for loyalty programs, which include Rakuten’s Super Points initiative.

Google said that it plans to work closely with FeliCa Networks, the RFID smart card system started by Sony, to add support for more eMoney services and traditional payment firms including Visa, Mastercard, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and more next year.

Android Pay is available to users in the U.S., UK, Ireland, Poland, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan and New Zealand. The mobile wallet app can be downloaded to supported devices that run on Android Kitkat 4.4 or newer.

First appeared at TC