Google completed the fourth launch in seven weeks for its Android Pay mobile payment service, as it continues to vie with rivals Apple and Samsung for dominance of the sector.

Today’s debut of the service in Ireland follows rollouts in Hong Kong, Poland and New Zealand dating back to mid-October. Google said the service will work at thousands of locations across Ireland which accept contactless payments, including Eason, McDonald’s, Tesco and Spar. The service also works with apps such as Adverts.ie, Deliveroo and Uber.

However, the service is only initially available to Visa and Mastercard credit and debit cardholders with two of the country’s largest banks – AIB and KBC.

Customers of rivals such as Bank of Ireland, Ulster Bank and Permanent TSB will have to wait. Google said other banks will be added in coming months.

Striking agreements with banks is the bottleneck that has held Google and its competitors back from wider availability, although the pattern of four launches in seven weeks tends to indicate they are overcoming it.