Hot on the heels of adding support for Samsung Pay, Curve, the London-based “over-the-top” banking platform that lets you consolidate all of your bank cards into a single card, has added support for Google Pay.
The new integration — which we reported earlier this week was imminent, means that Android users can pay with Curve via their Android-powered phone or smart watch anywhere Google Pay is accepted. This includes via devices from Google itself, along with those made by the likes of Acer, Huawei, HTC, Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, and others.
It also widens the availability of Google Pay to users whose bank doesn’t currently support Google’s digital wallet, such as Barclays and Virgin, who have chosen instead to shun Google Pay while adding support for NFC-enabled payments to their own banking apps.
The new feature is enabled by Curve’s ability to consolidate all of your bank cards into a single Curve card. This means that once you register your Curve card with Google Pay, the Google Pay app will now work with any Mastercard or Visa-issued debit or credit card.
With Google Pay, Curve customers can also spend beyond the £30 limit on transactions imposed by regular “contactless” card payments. They’ll also benefit from a single sign-in and payment system when transacting online and within apps where Google Pay is supported.
“We are delighted to announce Curve’s integration with Google Pay,” said Diego Rivas, Curve’s Head of Product, OS, in a statement “Curve is still an excellent way of consolidating all your cards in one and its integration with Google Pay enables even more ways to pay if you don’t have your physical card handy. By combining the Google Pay experience with Curve’s unique all your cards in one and money management features, Curve customers get to experience one of the most rewarding and feature packed personal finance products on the market”.
Meanwhile, Apple Pay is still unsupported by Curve. Could it be next? Perhaps. The first rule of Apple Pay is to never talk about Apple Pay (until it launches).