May 19, 2017 08:44 AM EDT By Erwin Castro, UniversityHerald Reporter

Google is making a huge announcement this week. The search giant's mobile payments service Android Pay will soon be available in some new markets. These include the countries of Brazil, Canada, Russia, Spain, and Taiwan.

The company's announcement was made by Pali Bhat, Google's VP of payments products, in a recent company's blog post. This brings the total list of countries, where the Android Pay is available, to 15, the GSMArena reported.

Additionally, Pali Bhat also announced that the company is now working on the ability to send/receive payments through Google Assistant. Google is expected to bring this new feature in the near future.
There's even more, Google is now getting more serious about mobile payment. Aside from the Google Assistant feature, the Mountain View-based company has also announced plans for a more streamlined mobile checkout experience for the PayPal users.

Earlier reports said that the company's Android Pay would not just make available on countries, but also in more cities. Previously, the Android Pay has made available only in the Poland, New Zealand, Singapore, Ireland, United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.

Google first introduced Android Pay about two years ago as a competitor and response to Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. At that time, Android Pay offers only users an alternative way to pay by phone instead of having to take out their credit cards at the register at the store.

In addition to the payment service's expansion news, Google is also opening its Android Pay service to third party developers. This means that developers can now take advantage of a new Payment API that enables customers to pay for goods in-app or even online using a verified debit or credit card that's saved on their Google account.

The company also introduced a new offering aimed at merchants, who want to reward their most loyal customers. The Card Linked Offers API (application programming interface) will allow merchants and businesses using the company's Android Pay service to engage customers before they enter the store and then reward them after they leave the store, the TechCrunch reported.

Finally, Google's Android Pay is currently available in 10 markets, and will soon add 5 more countries, bringing the total number of countries to 18. Google is also close to deploying a smoother mobile checkout experience for PayPal users, thus bringing its mobile payment service much closer to the big crowd.

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