Google Pay comes to HSBC customers in Australia

Google launched Google Pay, the company’s digital wallet solution born out of the merger of Android Pay and Google Wallet, last month. It was a long-overdue consolidation to say the least. The company’s bid to make the various e-wallet solutions less confusing for consumers has now started taking bigger steps. Starting March, Google Pay is now available for HSBC customers in Australia.

HSBC becomes the ninth major bank to add support for Google Pay in Australia. The other banks are ANZ, Macquarie Bank, AMEX, Bankwest, Bendigo Bank, ING Direct, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank of Australia. As of now, HSBC supports Google Pay for all of its credit or debit cards, but one. The supported cards include HSBC Classic Credit Card (Visa), Platinum Credit Card (Visa), Platinum Qantas Card (Visa), Premier (Mastercard), Premier Qantas (Mastercard), Visa debit card, and Premier Visa debit card.
HSBC Corporate Cards are currently listed as unsupported cards by Google Pay. So, you’re out of luck, if you have an HSBC Corporate Card and were looking to use Google’s digital wallet. Other HSBC card holders can now make purchases in stores without having to carry any physical cash or card. Just carry your Android phone, with Google Pay installed and your card linked. Plus, you can also make purchases online using Google Pay without the need to manually re-enter the card details.
Head of retail banking and wealth management at HSBC Australia, Graham Heunis hopes Google Pay will simplify retail experiences for their customers. He expects Australians’ uptake of the technology to continue to grow the mobile payment industry in the country.
“With customers increasingly relying on smartphones for shopping, paying bills, and even managing their finances, Google Pay will help simplify retail experiences and offer customers the freedom to decide how, when and where they wish to pay. In markets such as China, HSBC has already witnessed the rapid uptake of mobile payments technology. Similarly, we expect Australians to increasingly embrace the flexibility of making mobile payments,” he said.
Google launched Android Pay in Australia in 2016 as a competitor to other similar services such as Samsung Pay and Apple Pay. Since then, it has gained wide popularity with a number of banks, building societies and credit unions across Australia adopting the service. Unlike Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, which rely on having Apple or Samsung-specific handsets, Google Pay works across any Android device with inbuilt NFC. This gives card holders the leverage to pick their choice of phone brand. Samsung phone owners can pick their payment method, between Samsung Pay and Google Pay, depending on whether their financial institution supports either Samsung Pay or Google Pay.
If you’re an HSBC customer and have one of the above listed supported cards, you can also take advantage of the simplicity and convenience of Google Pay. It’s accepted everywhere you can make contactless purchases, and online where the Google Pay logo is displayed. All you need is an Android phone running Android 4.4 or above with NFC and the newly re-branded Google Pay app, available on the Google Play Store, from the link below.

Setting up Google Pay is also not at all any complicated. Here’s how.