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The
service will allow Android mobile phone users to pay for
products in stores that allow contactless payments.
Some 70% of Israelis have Android based phones - according to
Israeli media, potentially providing a big market for Google
Pay, which has about 150 million users in more than 40 countries
worldwide.
In May, Apple's Apple Pay launched in Israel, where 30% of
people have iPhones.
An estimated two-thirds of payment terminals in Israel support
the wireless payment standard that allow payments by mobile
phone, smart watch or credit card, Bank of Israel data shows.
Shva, the company which processes credit card payments in
Israel, said 58.1% of credit card purchases in October were
contactless and through digital wallets, reaching 373.8 million
shekels ($118.5 million).
Shva said the volume of purchases via digital wallets has risen
20 times in the past half year since Apple Pay entered the
market.
"The entry of Google Pay will lead to a further increase in
digital wallets," said Shva chief executive Eitan Lev Tov.
Israel's large banks and credit card companies, which issue
Visa, Mastercard and American Express cards, said in individual
statements that they had signed the agreements with Google to
offer Google Pay, with some banks giving cash back to customers
for using the service.
($1 = 3.1546 shekels)
(Reporting by Steven Scheer. Editing by Jane Merriman)
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