Australian banks with Google Pay

Just like Apple Pay for iPhone users, Google Pay is the digital wallet for Android users. Google Pay enables you to make purchases in-store, online and within apps without using your physical debit or credit card.

What is Google Pay?

Google Pay is a payments app that acts like your physical wallet, housing all your debit and credit cards as well as loyalty cards, tickets and coupons. You can use the digital wallet to make contactless purchases in stores and online just like you would with your physical debit card, except the app enables you to make these purchases using just your smartphone or Android device. The beauty of Google Pay is that you can travel lightly with just your phone and still make purchases – no cash or card needed.

Australian banks that offer Google Pay

See the Australian banks that offer Google Pay, Samsung Pay and/or Apple Pay in the table below.

Bank	Apple Pay	Samsung Pay	Google Pay
Westpac
Adelaide Bank
AMP
ANZ
Arab Bank Australia
Australian Military Bank
Auswide Bank
AWA Alliance Bank
NAB
CommBank (CBA)
Bank Australia
Bank of Sydney
Bendigo Bank
Beyond Bank Australia
Big Sky Building Society
Bank of Queensland (BAQ)
Bank of Us
CAPE Credit Union
Australian Unity
Bankwest
Bank First
Bank of Heritage Isle
Bank of Queensland Specialist
Bank of Melbourne
BankSA
BankVic
BankWAW
BCU
Broken Hill Community Credit Union
Catalyst Money
Central Murray Credit Union
Central West Credit Union
Citi
Coastline Credit Union
Community First Bank
Central Coast Credit Union
Community Alliance Credit Union
Credit Union SA
Border Bank
Customs Bank
Defence Bank
Endeavour Mutual Bank
Family First Credit Union
Firefighters Mutual Bank
First Option Credit Union
Ford Credit Union
Geelong Bank
Goldfields Money
Goulburn Murray Credit Union
Greater Bank
Great Southern Bank
Hay
Health Professionals Bank
Heritage Bank
Holiday Coast Credit Union
Horizon Credit Union
HSBC
Hume Bank
ING
Illawarra Credit Union
IMB Bank
Intech Credit Union
Laboratories Credit Union
Latitude Financial Services
Lombard Finance
Maritime Mining & Power Credit Union
Macquarie Bank
ME Bank
Move Bank
MyState Bank
Newcastle Permanent
Nexus Mutual
Northern Beaches Credit Union
Northern Inland Credit Union
Once Credit
Orange Credit Union
P&N Bank
People’s Choice Credit Union
Police Bank
Police Credit Union
Qbank
Queensland Country Bank
Qudos Bank
RACQ
Reliance Bank
Revolut
South West Slopes Bank
Spriggy
St. George Bank
Sydney Credit Union
Suncorp
Teachers Mutual Bank
The Mac
The Mutual Bank
The Rock
Transferwise
UniBank
Ubank
Unity Bank
Up
Warwick Credit Union
Woolworths Employees’ Credit Union
Queenslanders Credit Union
Virgin Money

What happened to Android Pay and Google Wallet?

Don't be confused about Android Pay and Google Wallet, Google has rebranded these as Google Pay. Google launched Android Pay in 2015 but rebranded to Google Pay in early 2018 to avoid confusion. Now, all of Google's digital payment features are under the one name: Google Pay.

How does Google Pay work?

Within the Google Pay app, you’ll see a tab titled “Cards”. This is where all your cards are stored, including your debit and credit card. In the same way that you can use your physical debit card to make contactless tap-and-go purchases in stores, you can use Google Pay to tap your smartphone on an EFTPOS terminal without entering a pin.

Using near field communication (NFC), the phone connects with the payment terminal when they’re held close together, allowing the payment to be processed. Think of it like an invisible mini-bridge between your phone and the EFTPOS terminal that allows the data to travel between each device. The chip within your device communicates to the chip within the payment terminal, sending messages back and forth via the mini, invisible bridge.

Pros and Cons of using Google Pay

Where can you use Google Pay?

Google Pay is accepted at millions of places worldwide. You can use Google Pay in any stores that already enable tap-and-go payments, which is almost everywhere these days. You can also use Google Pay to make purchases within a large number of popular apps, such as Wish as well as on websites like JB Hi-Fi. When using Google Pay to make purchases online, you avoid having to manually enter your card details each time you make a transaction. If you’re not sure if a particular merchant accepts Google Pay, just look for the Google Pay symbol or the contactless payment symbol.

Which devices support Google Pay?

Google Pay is supported by all Android devices that have the operating system 4.4 (KitKat) and above. You can also use Google Pay on a compatible Android Wear 2.0 smartwatch.

Google Pay is only available on Android devices and is not available on iPhones, Mac computers or Apple Watches.

How to set up Google Pay on your smartphone

Setting up Google Pay only takes a few easy steps, and you can start making contactless payments right away.

1. Ensure you have an eligible device and debit card. You’ll need to have an Android smartphone that supports the operating system 4.4 or above. Plus, check to make sure your current bank offers Google Pay by searching the list above.
2. Download the app. Go to your Google play store and download the Google Pay app.
3. Add your debit card. Select the “Add debit card” option within the app. You can take a photo of your card instead of manually entering in all the numbers (although you can enter the numbers manually, if you’d like to). You’ll receive a text to verify your identity, then you’re all set to go.

How do I use Google Pay once it’s installed?

Once you’ve got the Google Pay app set up on your smartphone, it’s easy to make contactless payments in stores without your debit card or cash. All you need to do is wake up your phone, hold it over the EFTPOS terminal and wait until you see a tick appear on the screen to let you know the payment was approved. You don’t need to open the Google Pay app, and the whole process takes less than five seconds to complete.

If you’re making a purchase within an app or on a website, simply select the Google Pay option at the checkout. The app will use your default card details to pay for the transaction, without the need to enter in your details again.

Is Google Pay safe?

You can sleep easy knowing that yes, Google Pay is incredibly safe. In fact, Google operates one of the most advanced security systems in the world. When you use Google Pay to pay for things in-store, like your morning coffee, the app doesn’t share your debit card number with the merchant. Instead it shares a unique encrypted transaction number along with a number specific to your device to validate the payment.

And if you lose the phone itself, you can simply lock it remotely from a web browser by logging into your Google account. Or, you can use your mobile banking app to lock your debit card temporarily. So, Google Pay is actually safer than using your traditional debit or credit card in some ways.

How do I use Google Pay on my Android watch?

If Google Pay is supported on your smartwatch, the app will already be on the watch. Open the app on your watch and select the “Get started” option. You’ll then need to use your phone to add a debit card to your watch. When done successfully, your card will appear within the Google Pay app on your watch. Note, you’ll need to set up a PIN for your watch in order for Google Pay to work.

You can now use the watch to make contactless payments in stores. Hover your wrist over the payment terminal, the same way that you’d use your phone or debit card to tap and go. However, unlike using Google Pay on your smartphone, when using your watch to pay, you do need to open the Google Pay app. You’ll feel a vibration from the watch when the transaction has worked.

What are Apple Pay and Samsung Pay?

Apple Pay is the digital wallet offered by tech giant Apple, which is for iPhone users and other Apple devices including Apple Watch. Samsung Pay is exclusively for Samsung devices, although Google Pay will also work on a large majority of Samsung devices.

If you’ve got an iPhone or Samsung device, you can check out our Apple Pay or Samsung Pay guides to learn more about these digital wallet options.

Written by

Alison Banney

Editor

Alison Banney is the money editorial manager at Finder. She covers all areas of personal finance, and her areas of expertise are superannuation, banking and saving. She has written about finance for 10 years, having previously worked at Westpac and written for several other major banks and super funds. See full bio

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