Google’s new app for mobile payments, known as Google Wallet, has started to show up on people’s phones in various countries. According to Chaiti Sen, “the company is rolling out the app to Android users in 39 countries”, and it’ll be available “to all users in the next few days”.
During its I/O event in 2022, Google revealed that it would be releasing a new app called Google Wallet, which will allow users to manage their various digital cards. Besides being able to pay for items with a credit or debit card, the app will additionally allow users to view their vaccination status, tickets, identification and more
In most countries, the new app will replace Google Pay. However, in the US and Singapore, Google said that users will still be able to use both Google Pay and Google Wallet. The company noted that in these regions, the former app ( Google Pay) will allow users to send money to their friends, while the new app (Google Wallet) will allow them to manage their various digital cards.
Before the new app was released, Google had already released several versions of Google Wallet. In 2011, it was an app that was focused on providing near-field communication (NFC) payment capabilities. In 2018, it was combined with Android Pay to create Google Pay. At one point, there was also a physical Google Wallet debit card.
In most countries, the former Google Wallet app is already starting to turn into the new Google Wallet. This is a major change in the company’s payment apps, as it will allow users to store and pay for their various digital cards on their Android devices.