Google and PayPal partnered to allow Android Pay transactions to be made using PayPal account funds, enhancing the eCommerce giant’s reach in physical retail locations.

The companies announced the upgrade to Android Pay in separate corporate blogs, while talking-up the benefits for consumers.

Google’s global head of Payment Products, Pali Bhat, said the collaboration increased customers’ options at checkouts and would be made available to US users in the coming weeks.

PayPal EVP and COO Bill Ready said the partnership with Google builds on a near three year-old agreement enabling PayPal to be used as a payment method on Google Play. He said the companies’ “combined reach and leadership in technology and mobile commerce” would offer more options to their customers.

“We will continue to forge new collaborations to expand our services and reach, explore new contexts, increase conversion for our merchants, create better mobile experiences and give our consumers the flexibility, security and speed that digital payments can offer,” Ready added.

PayPal’s Android Pay deal is the latest in a number of partnerships struck by the company in the last 12 months with a view to increase its footprint in the mobile payments sector. These include an agreement with Visa announced earlier in April and a spate of NFC payment launches with Vodafone in 2016.

During its latest financial update – covering Q4 2016 – PayPal CEO Dan Schulman said the company was experiencing strong growth in its mobile payments business, which contributed almost a third of all money processed by the company during the quarter.