Kyiv, 1 November 2017 – Today Visa announced that Visa Privatbank cardholders in Ukraine now have access to the Android Pay service, giving users an easy, secure and private way to pay cashless through their devices. Android Pay can be used with contactless point-of-sale terminals which are already used by Visa cardholders daily  throughout Ukraine.

Contactless payments are gaining momentum in Ukraine. Cardholders appreciate the convenience and time saved through their contactless purchase experience. The launch of Android Pay means that wherever people can use their contactless card, they can now use their Visa card in Android Pay. Contactless payments are currently most popular in mass transit, convenience and grocery stores, supermarkets and hypermarkets, clothing stores, restaurants, pharmacies and petrol stations.

“Visa strives to make the payments environment more secure, convenient and customized. The launch of Android Pay in Ukraine opens up multiple possibilities of in-store shopping that can take place in different forms, anywhere, on NFC-enabled Android device, with confidence and ease,” said Dmyto Krepak, Acting Head of the CIS region and South-Eastern Europe, Visa. “Currently, 62% of merchant terminals in Ukraine accept Visa contactless payments.

Ukrainians enthusiastically embrace contactless and are very active Android smartphones users. It’s only natural to marry these concepts and give the broadest range of people opportunity to use their phones to pay as well. With today’s launch, we are pleased to be doing our part to drive development of the cashless economy in Ukraine.”

Within the initial launch of Android Pay in Ukraine Privatbank will be the first issuer to offer innovative payment option until other issuers are ready to join. Last year. Visa and PrivatBank announced the launch of Visa Token Service (VTS) in Ukraine, an innovative technology that provides a secure environment to help drive innovation in online and mobile commerce and lays foundation for the Pay solutions. When you add a Visa payment card to Android Pay, the actual payment card details are not stored on the device.  Instead, Visa generates a unique token which replaces the sensitive data found on a debit or credit card. Because consumers are using their Visa cards within Android Pay digital wallet, they will be covered by all the same benefits they currently enjoy with their Visa cards, including widespread domestic and international acceptance. 

To start enjoying the new service, Android users with NFC-enabled devices simply need to download the Android Pay app from the Google Play Store. Cardholders can then sign up for Android Pay through the app and add their Visa credit and debit cards. Paying in store is just as easy as with a contactless card – simply unlock  the phone and hold it near the terminal.