Mobile payments are something of a confusing mess here in Canada, particularly on Android side of things. But the good news is that if you’re a Scotiabank customer, the national bank has opened up tap-and-pay functionality to a much greater number of Android devices.
In an update released today, Scotiabank has added a feature called ‘My Mobile Wallet’ to its Android app. Per the app’s changelog, “My Mobile Wallet allows you to easily pay by credit, debit or prepaid card anywhere you see the contactless symbol.” Scotiabank also notes users will be able to digitize their receipts and reconcile them against their transaction history.
According to MobileSyrup reader Mikaël, he was able to use his Nexus smartphone and Scotiabank card to complete a mobile payment. Previously, the Scotiabank Android app did not support tap and pay functionality with Nexus devices, among other Android devices due to its .
Update: MobileSyrup just spoke to Scotiabank’s Brian McCabe, head of day-to-day banking at the bank. McCabe told us the Scotiabank Android app now supports tap and pay functionality on any NFC-enabled smartphone running Android 4.4 and above — he also noted tap and pay functionality is currently not supported on rooted smartphones. Like current contactless payment solutions, there’s a $100 payment limit.
Correction: a previous version of this article mistakenly said the Scotiabank app did not support tap and pay functionality in the past. This is not true. In fact, it has had tap and functionality for a number of years. However, Scotiabank has since moved to a host card emulation (HCE) solution, opening up the functionality to a greater number of Android devices.
Download the Scotiabank mobile banking app from Google Play Store.
[source]Google Play[/source]
