Category: Google Wallet

Google Pay, the rebranded merging of Google Wallet and Android Pay, is going live today.  With a new app rolling out and a rebranding of another… wait, I thought there was only going to be one app?  Yeah… we’ll get there.

First, Google Pay is the rebranding of Android Pay and that app is going live in the Play Store today according to the company’s blog.  If you have Android Pay installed on your phone, you will get an OTA update to the new app over the course of the next few days.  Regardless of which one you have installed right now, you can still go and use it.  This, to an extent, is a rebranding exercise at this point.

If you thought that Android Pay had killed off Google Wallet, think again.  Google has just rolled out an update web portal for the person-to-person payment service along with a refreshed Android app.  The update brings a completely refreshed website for Wallet that is Material Design in nature and intuitive on sending or receiving funds from others.  The app update mirrors this new look of the portal and it, as before, is simple to use.  The app is certainly faster than the website and has some added security features like requiring a PIN to get into it.  However, if you don’t have your phone handy, you now have an easy way to send or receive funds using the service.

File this one under “Not Shocked”.  Google Wallet sent out an email to users today letting them know that as of June 30th of this year, the physical card associated with the service will no longer be supported.

After careful consideration, we’ve decided that we’ll no longer support the Wallet Card as of June 30. Moving forward, we want to focus on making it easier than ever to send and receive money with the Google Wallet app.

Given all of the changes that have been made by Google on payments and money transfers with Wallet and with Android Pay, the news was somewhat expected and had been rumored over the course of the past week.

In the latest update to Google Wallet, you now have the ability to send money to friends and family via their email address or SMS.  The update, which is in the Google Play Store and rolling out now, adds a key functionality to the app which by-and-large was replaced by Android Pay back in September.  Wallet is now more focused on sending and receiving funds from individuals while Android Pay is focused on the retail point of purchase.

The update to Google Wallet is version 12.0 for those keeping score at home and is designed for Android phones.  Prior to this update, the person you were sending funds to had to have an email address.  You can still send funds that way if you want but if you only have someone’s mobile number, you can simply send them the funds to that number.

Google Wallet – Free – Download Now

It is pretty much a given that Android Pay is just days away and Google continues to prepare apps and devices for that eventuality.  The latest is a completely new Google Wallet app for Android phones and tablets.  Now to be clear, this is a completely new and separate build of Google Wallet that is available today – and is still available.  That’s right, if you use the link below to download Google Wallet you will have this new build and the old Google Wallet app.  Why would Google do this?  Think Android Pay.

Confused?  Don’t be.  Let me explain.

Google Wallet (NEW) for Android – Free – Download Now

Google’s payment app, Google Wallet, has received an update that should make life a bit easier for heavy users of the app.  The latest update, build 9.0-R206-v14 for those keeping score at home, makes finding your transactions much easier than before and getting details about those transactions.  It’s all part of a much improved search feature inside the app in an effort to give you transaction details.

Google Wallet for Android – Free – Download Now