Google recently announced its plan to make Google Play “a comprehensive digital wallet,” and Google Wallet might return. Google Wallet is the payment service the company offers in favor of Pay. Screenshots of Google Wallet have been disclosed, and it seems that it may appear as part of the Google Pay app.
Google retired the wallet name back in 2018 when it announced Google Pay. Consequently, its functionality was also wrapped up within the Pay app, and the Wallet ceased to exist. Google might resurrect the Wallet, however, not as a standalone app.
As per Mishaal Rahman, Google offers a Wallet UI for Google Play Services. It will act as the primary cardholder for digital cards such as; gift cards, digital cards, and other things such as AMC stubs, airline tickets, etc. Rahman also disclosed the screenshots of what the new Wallet UI may look like.
As per Rahman, Pay will still be the go-to app for online transactions, but Wallet will be the interface that would store all cards. As of now, you can manage a maximum of your cards in Google Pay. However, the screenshots shared suggest that one would be able to access the Wallet UI from within the app. In addition, cards stored in the Wallet could be accessible on other Google services, as one of the screenshots suggests “Learn how passes in your Wallet will appear across Google.”
To put it in simple words, a Wallet would be a place for cards, while Google Pay would assist you in making payments. Not everyone would be happy to see two different payment platforms on their devices once more; it is evident that Google Pay’s plan to compete with apps such as Mint and Venmo has not caught on. We will have to wait and watch when Google is ready to disclose its relaunched digital wallet initiative, but with I/O less than a month away, this service might be just around the corner.