Google may be bringing its classic “wallet” name back to Android’s home of contactless payment cards and vital passes.
On Android, the situation with contactless payments is a bit confusing, mainly because Google’s strategy is changing all the time. For most of the world, “Google Pay” is and has been run through a separate app that only manages your contactless payments and other supported tickets and passes.
Meanwhile, in select countries such as the US, Singapore and India, there is a completely different app “GPay” that has many social features, transactions and peer-to-peer payments, and was once the home of Google to undo its banking ambitions. The app puts less emphasis on contactless payments, managing your cards and passes is handled by Google Play Services rather than GPay.
The downside to the GPay app is that it can only be installed on one device at a time, unlike the previous Google Pay app. Conversely, to make contactless payments on multiple devices, your second device needs to use the legacy app. Pixel phones get around this glitch with the Cards and Passes feature, which provides quick access to your payment cards from the lock screen and quick settings, but isn’t available on most other Android devices.
We first reported last week that Google was preparing a new “Wallet” icon, which we thought could very well be the gateway to everything from payment cards to “e-tickets, airline passes, and vaccine passports.”in a new screenshot shared on twitter With Mishaal Rahman, we got our first look at what Google is planning for a “wallet” on Android.
Image: Mishaal Rahman
In what looks like a landing page, we see that Wallet aims to provide “payment cards, loyalty cards, and more in one place.” Moving on to the applet, it appears to offer a Material You-style overhaul of all the same features of the classic Google Pay experience built into Play Services.
The top of the Google Wallet app has a dedicated spot for your default Google Pay contactless payment card. The wording here (and the introductory diagram) is interesting because it shows that even though you add the card to Wallet, the payment behavior still happens with Google Pay. That means the two are different, and both brands are likely to live on.
Below this we can see the usual list of loyalty cards, of which we may also see tickets for any upcoming tours or events. Cleverly, each item on the list is coordinated with the company’s logo colors. The page also has a floating “Add to Wallet” button that makes it easy to log in to a new payment card, loyalty card, gift card or transportation account. In Android’s recent apps view, you can even see the new Wallet icon running.
Image: Mishaal Rahman
Update 4/19: After a beta update to Google Play services, Google has further adjustment Wallet design. Specifically, the “Add to Wallet” page now features a card that encourages users to look for an “Add to Google Wallet” button that may appear on the web to easily store tickets and passes within the app.
Image: Mishaal Rahman
Such a button appears to be a 1:1 replacement/rebrand of the existing “Save to Google Pay” functionality. This further suggests that “Google Pay” as we know it may be splitting into two distinct but related services. Presumably, peer-to-peer transactions and online payments will continue to be handled by Google Pay, with Google Wallet taking the sole responsibility for contactless payments and tickets/passes on Android devices.
All in all, it doesn’t seem to show any new features. Instead, this appears to be a new entry point into Google’s existing suite of payment options, albeit under the new/revival “Wallet” branding. It’s unclear how it intends to give Android device owners access to Wallet, although it would be nice to see it as its own app icon in the launcher.
For now, though, Google’s newest “wallet” brand — which started out just as a home for peer-to-peer payments and related debit cards — appears to be still in the early stages of development. The new wallet may still be a few months away from falling into the pockets of Android users.
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