Technology

Fandango pioneers new Google Pay service

Fandango has become one of the first major operators to offer transactions via the new combined Google Pay service.

The movie ticketing company, which reaches 67 million users a month, has added Google Pay as a digital payment option for ticket purchases among its online, mobile and social platforms.

Tech giant Google previously offered mobile payments, in-store checkout and money transfers among friends through several services such as Android Pay, Google Wallet and several others.

Airbnb, Dice, Fandango, HungryHouse and Instacart are the first companies to integrate with the combined Google Pay service.

“With Google Pay on Fandango, you can buy tickets with ease – making checkout simpler than ever,” said Pali Bhat, Google’s vice-president of product management (payments).

The integration comes just days after Fandango linked up with Apple Pay. According to a recent survey of more than 1,000 Fandango users, 81 per cent say they currently use some sort of digital payment service.

However, they may have some way to go in convincing users to opt for mobile payment services, with data from Mobile Marketer suggesting consumers in the US, UK, Canada, France and Germany prefer other methods.

Nevertheless, Fandago said the Google Pay service would benefit its customers, with 70 per cent of its ticket sales coming from mobile devices in 2017.

“Fandango is always looking for new ways to make discovering movies and purchasing tickets faster and easier for moviegoers,” said Mark Young, Fandango’s senior vice-president, strategy and business development.

“Google Pay provides a simple, intuitive option for Fandango customers to speed through checkout with just one tap. We look forward to working with Google as they grow this exciting new payment platform.”