Google would quite literally like to replace your physical wallet.
At Google I/O 2022 on Wednesday, the company’s annual developer’s conference, Google announced a brand new feature for Android devices: Google Wallet.
The new Google Wallet interface.
Credit: Mashable Screenshot
Using Google Wallet, Android users can connect their credit cards and simply tap their device in stores to pay for products. Google Wallet can also store student IDs, vaccine cards, concert tickets, flight passes, and more. (Google even mentioned that Google Wallet can store your Walt Disney World tickets.) The company also announced it was working with states across the U.S. in order to connect personal ID cards to Google Wallet as well. Users will be able to share their digital identification with a tap or QR code.
State IDs in Google Wallet…coming soon.
Credit: Mashable Screenshot
According to Google, your Android device does not share your Google Wallet data with the company. Users with Android 5 devices or Wear OS will be able to upgrade to Google Wallet.
At this point in the tech world, nothing here is quite revolutionary. After all, iPhone users have long had similar features available to them with the Apple Wallet app. But what is interesting here is how Google actually launched a Google Wallet app over a decade ago. In fact, Mashable even reviewed the feature then. Over the years, however, Google basically merged Google Wallet into what became known as Google Pay. Now, though, Google Pay is more of a payment processor than a Wallet app for digital cards. Google wants to transition the branding of these features back over to Google Wallet.
Google Pay is currently available in more than 40 countries. The vast majority of users living around the world will see their Google Pay app swapped with Google Wallet. Users in India are one of the exceptions. They will continue to use Google Pay for these features. As for the U.S. (and Singapore), users will use both Google Wallet and Google Pay for these features.
