Google Pay, the contactless payment option, appears to be on the near-term horizon for Butterfield Bank clients in Bermuda.

Google Pay allows consumers to pay for products and services with their smart phone.

A Butterfield spokesperson confirmed: “We are pleased to be first to market with Google Pay in the Cayman Islands and are in discussions for Bermuda.”

The payment system was introduced in Cayman on Thursday.

It works on both Android and Wear OS devices.

Cardholders can store Butterfield credit and debit cards within Google Wallet, a digital wallet, and make purchases wherever they are by tapping or holding their phone in place of a physical card.

Clients can also use Google Pay for online and in-app purchases.

Cardholders will also be able to save and access loyalty cards and boarding passes and event tickets in the Google wallet.

Using Google Pay makes payments safer with multiple layers of security, adding to the protections already provided by a Butterfield card, the bank said.

This includes industry-standard tokenisation, which means when you use your card stored in Google Wallet to pay, transactions are made using a virtual card number (a token).

This token is device-specific and associated with a dynamic security code that changes with each transaction, providing an extra layer of protection from fraud.

If a phone is lost or stolen, owners can use the “find my device” function to instantly lock it from anywhere, secure it with a new password, or wipe it clean of personal information.

Clients who make payments using Google Pay would continue to receive all the usual rewards and benefits offered by their Butterfield card.

The bank said Google Pay is easy to set up.

On an Android phone or supported Wear OS device, clients open the Google Wallet app, and add their Butterfield card information.

Once a card is added, clients will be able to start using Google Wallet on that device right away.