Google Wallet Might Be Reintroduced To Your Phone

Google Pay was planned to merge all of the company’s financial services into a single app when it was released at the end of 2020. Although contactless payments are still possible, the app’s current focus is on loyalty cards, financial management, and sending and receiving funds from pals. We originally heard about Google’s plans to construct a “complete digital wallet” in January, and today we get our first peek at what that would include. Google recently added  “Tap to Pay” feature to payment service.

Google to Reintroduce Google Wallet

On Twitter, Esper.io’s Mishaal Rahman provided some screenshots of the redesigned UI. This design reinstates the former “Wallet” moniker, which Google dropped in 2018 when it merged it with Android Pay into one service. These photos also feature the leaked symbol from last week, indicating a more extensive reimagining of Google Pay’s present functionality than was previously imagined.

This new version of “Wallet” appears to be in line with the company’s original goals, which were spelled out in January when ex-PayPal CEO Arnold Goldberg was appointed to manage the payments team. This new UI, which is billed as a “digital wallet for all of your cards,” enables “payment cards, loyalty cards, and more all in one spot.” The app includes airline passes, theater tickets, gift cards, and transit fare cards, with the flexibility to add more as needed.

Wallet can automatically retrieve passes and tickets from your Gmail account, according to the settings menu, which is another feature now supported by Google Pay. To keep track of your transactions, you can enable buy reviews.

This version of Wallet appears to mirror many of the contactless features and functionality of Google Pay, but without the extra bloat. This UI is embedded inside Google Play Services, according to Rahman, which could indicate a new divide between Wallet and Pay, thereby returning Android to a pre-2018 payment architecture.

While not everyone will be delighted to see two distinct payment services on their devices once again, it’s evident that Pay’s strategy to compete with apps like Venmo and Mint has failed. We’ll have to wait and see when Google is ready to unveil this revived digital wallet program, but with I/O less than a month away, it’s possible that this service will be announced soon.