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Pay with Google launched to speed up online payments

Google's online payments system is designed to speed up purchases and reduce failure rates.
Written by Charlie Osborne, Contributing Writer

Google's online payment portal, Pay with Google. has now launched in a bid to streamline and speed up the checkout process.

Google announced the availability of the service on Monday.

In a blog post, the tech giant said that many apps and websites have adopted already adopted the payment alternative, with more to come.

Online payments have progressed in recent years to become safer with fraud checks, encryption, and bank card checks. However, they are far from perfect.

Some shoppers are forced to authenticate themselves every time they make a purchase, forms must be filled out, pages time out and false fraud alerts prevent purchases.

With every barrier you place in front of a genuine shopper, the likelihood of the purchase going through diminishes.

If vendors, apps, or website domains do not have a streamlined system in place and make purchases a frustrating experience, consumers may simply choose to click away and find their item elsewhere -- which not only annoys the customer and may prevent them from coming back in the future, but also costs the vendor revenue.

Back in May, Google offered a sneak peek of the Pay with Google platform, which Pali Bhat, VP of Product Management and Payments at Google said, "means breezing through checkout without needing to remember and type multiple lines of payment details."

Now, shoppers can freely opt to use Pay with Google. Any credit or debit cards linked to your Google account through services including Google Play, Chrome and YouTube can be used to make online purchases.

"Google sends the merchant your payment info and shipping address using the information from your account -- no typing required," the firm says. "Then, the merchant will handle all the details just like any other purchase."

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Google

The only step for users will be authenticating the purchase, which could include typing in a card's security code or verifying themselves through their mobile devices.

The payment system can be used through Android devices worldwide. Partners including Instacart, Kayak, Wish, Yelp Eat24 and Doordash have already implemented the system, whereas a new set of companies including Deliveroo, Just Eat, StubHub and Airbnb will soon implement the system.

The Google Payment API is also available for developers.

This is not the only improvement to Google services of late. Last week, Google announced a new Google Play feature which allows users to "try before they buy" Android apps and use their key features without installing them. The company also decided to cut developer fees.

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