MasterCard users still have only very limited access to Android Pay
Two weeks after Android Pay was launched in Australia, MasterCard users are still only getting very limited access to the system.Macquarie Bank confirmed that, as of Wednesday, its MasterCard debit card users could use the mobile wallet service. Macquarie was part of the Android Pay launch on July 13 but only its Visa credit card customers could use the service from the launch date.So far it is the only financial institution offering Android Pay that has connected its MasterCard customers.ANZ is still only making the service available to its Visa and Amex cardholders. The bank also issues MasterCard but the majority of its customers are Visa users. Its preference has been to focus on connecting its Visa accounts to Android and leave MasterCard until later.An ANZ spokesperson said: "ANZ wanted to offer Apple Pay and Android Pay to our customers as soon as we could. It was not possible for us to launch Apple Pay and Android Pay with both Visa and MasterCard at the same time and deliver as quickly as we did."Our MasterCard customers have not been forgotten. Our teams have been working hard and we will be ready to launch MasterCard in the coming months, if not weeks."Twenty-five financial institutions were connected to Android Pay through the payment services provider Cuscal on the launch date and there are about 15 more to follow in the next few weeks.Visa was enabled on the Cuscal system to connect with Android Pay on the launch date but not MasterCard. That situation has not changed.Why MasterCard users have been relegated to second-class status in the digital wallet market is not clear. Cuscal said it was a matter for card issuers, who were all working to their own timetables.The only comment from MasterCard has been a statement that said: "From a global payment network perspective, MasterCard is live with Android Pay and we are expecting a number of Australian issuers to make their cards available for Android Pay in the coming days."