Google turns off the oxygen

Google is changing its payment policy on Android: from now on, there are no third-party payment systems in applications distributed on Google Play.

In a letter to developers, which we have already written about today, Google announced not only changes related to mobile security, but also innovations in the payment policy pursued by the company. From now on, all developers must use only the Google Play payment system for financial transactions. 

In other words, all developers using the facilities of PayPal, Boku or, for example, BoxPay, will have to switch to traditional payment rails. However, an exception will be made for some applications. According to Chris Yerga, technical director of Google Play, the innovation will not affect companies that sell real goods and services that provide real services. 

As in the case of applications using “aggressive advertising”, the author of programs that support third-party payment systems is given 30 days to bring everything in accordance with the new rules. If someone does not manage to cope within this period, his application will be removed from the store.

It cannot be said that this is an unexpected decision. Back in March, according to Reuters, Google was considering such a possibility. However, such a move will hit Android developers hard if Google does not modernize its own payment system.