Use Android Pay And Verizon Will Give You A Temporary 2GB Data Boost

How can you tell if a cellular carrier is invested in Android Pay? When it decides to give you 2GB of free data simply by using it. That's a perk that Verizon subscribers are able to opt-in for right now, as long as they're able to find a store that accepts the payment service, of course.

According to a message some Verizon subscribers are receiving, the first time Android Pay is used on the carrier's network, the user's account will be credited for 1GB, good for two billing cycles. If a user ends up using Android Pay for a third time, that 1GB turns into 2GB. Considering the fact that data isn't inexpensive, and Android Pay can be used for things you'd buy anyway, this really does seem like a win-win.

This kind of move could be seen as a sign of Android Pay not doing so well out of the gate, and to some extent, that could be true. Android Pay officially launched in September, at which point it became available in over one million stores around the United States. Since then, though, news revolving around Android Pay has been quiet, with the bulk of the news being tied around mobile apps that can include the functionality, which was announced in December.

To be fair to Android Pay, though, neither of the other mobile payment systems have been that in-our-face, either. The last time we had something to say about Apple Pay, it was because the latest iPhone was set to include support for it. Even Samsung Pay has been playing it relatively quietly lately, although as Samsung Pay banners could be found all around Las Vegas during CES, it seems Samsung might have the most aggressive marketing for its payment platform at the moment.

The lack of news could also be a sign that we've officially entered a period where mobile payments are simply no longer a big deal. Five years ago, such functionality might have been far more impressive, but with all we can do on our phones today, mobile payments are just a natural extension of our devices.