Google is killing its bold Hands Free payment experiment

When Google launched Android Pay at its I/O conference back in 2015, it also teased a program that let you keep your phone in your pocket and still go through the normal checkout process. Called Hands Free, the limited pilot used the phrase, “I’ll pay with Google,” to alert the cashier that you wouldn’t actually be using a physical form of payment.

Google has announced that it is shutting down the service on Feb. 8, which launched last spring on iOS and Android. Available only at select locations like McDonalds and Papa Johns in the Bay Area, the program required users to upload a photo in the Hands Free app and utilized Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and location services in your phone to identify when you were at one of the participating locations.

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