Making payments via your mobile phone using a digital wallet is slowly taking over
Reuters estimates that mobile payments will account for $50 billion in transactions by next year. With big-name companies like Apple and Amazon getting into the mobile payment game, the days of physical transactions may soon be far behind us.
The benefits of mobile payments are evident, with Google Pay in particular: faster transactional time, the ability to pay for anything at any time, and from anywhere, and any passes or tickets you buy will be stored later for loyalty programs or traveling. As Google Pay is already incentivizing the burgeoning, lucrative field of mobile payments, competing companies will likely raise the bar with other perks.
In 2018, Google completely redid its mobile and online payment services and grouped them under the name Google Pay or G Pay umbrella. Google Pay boasts nearly 100 million users, which still falls well behind the most popular mobile payment app to date, Apple Pay. Other benefits of Google Pay includes peer-to-peer money sending, in-app purchases, and contactless payment in stores. Whether you’re hitting the store for some gas or going on a mini eBay shopping spree, Google Pay is there to cover all the bases for you.
You may be wondering now how you can incorporate this beautifully modern convenience into your life. The good news is that setting up Google Pay is easy. First, look for the Google Pay app on your phone, which is pre-downloaded on most Android phones and Apple Wear watches, but it’s also available on the Google Play Store. Once you’ve downloaded it, open the app and enter your credit or debit card information in the Cards tab. If it’s your first time using the app, then press the ‘Get Started’ button and snap a photo of your credit or debit card information, which Google Pay will automatically save. After that, you’ll receive an email or SMS authentication, and then voila–you’re in business.
How does Google Pay work?
There are a few differences between using Google Pay in stores and on apps. If you’re using it to pay for something in a store, look for a Google Pay symbol or another contactless payment symbol at checkout. Next, open Google Pay on your phone or Apple Watch. Then, hold your phone over and wait until you hear a beep confirming the transaction or see a green checkmark. Contactless payments? More like painless payments.
Paying for purchases made on your phone or computer is slightly different. You can only use Google Pay with apps that support it. When it comes time to check out, look for the ‘Buy With Google Pay’ button, and then press it. After that, you’ll be asked which card you want to use (if you have more than one on file), and then you’re finished. It’s still pretty straightforward; the only kicker is that you can only use it with apps or stores that support it.
Google Pay and can it work with WordPress?
Interestingly, though, you can hook up Google Pay to your WordPress account using Stripe. Stripe is an online payment processing hub for e-businesses, and you can download the plugin on your WordPress blog to enable Google Pay. So how can you do this exactly?
First, create a Stripe account. Like Apple Pay, Google Pay is a way of payment data interchange, so you’ll need a payment gateway that will manage online transactions between your blog and your customers and send the funds to your account. As of right now, Stripe is the only service that can do this.
Once your Stripe account is set up, you’ll want to install the Stipe plugin on WordPress. Head to the Plugins tab on your WordPress admin page and click ‘Add New.’ Next, enable the Stripe payment method and enable the Apple Pay method (hang in there just a second). Once you’ve done that, all that’s left to do is click on the Manage button next to ‘Stripe Payment Method’ and activate Google Pay for WordPress by checking the Payment Request Buttons box. There you have it: your customers can now use Google Pay on your WordPress blog.
It’s an exciting time for the growing mobile payment industry. The evolving concept of contactless transactions will open up a lot of doors for online payment methods. It will be interesting to see which companies will enable contactless payment options in the future. However, you can get a head start right now by signing up for Google Pay. Even better, WordPress users can incorporate this cutting edge payment technology into their blog or online business, thereby making the lives of their readers and customers more efficient and convenient.
Could I use Google Pay as a payment option for my CBD Oil website?
Unfortunately not. As with Shopify, Google Pay utilises Stripe to handle the transactions on your CBD Oil website. Currently, Stripe has CBD Oil on it’s prohibited list, just as PayPal. For this reason, attempting to utilise Google Pay, Stripe and your website selling CBD Oil would not be the recommended option to take.
Related Article: Payment Gateways & Accepting Payments Through Your CBD Oil Or Cannabis Website For WordPress & Shopify
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