Summary
- Google Wallet will host loyalty cards, tickets, and passes in one place on your Android phone.
- Google Pay app will remain in India for UPI and NFC payments, while Google Wallet focuses on tickets, passes, and loyalty cards.
- Google Wallet is exclusive to Android, not available on iOS or Wear OS, and will coexist with Google Pay app in India.
Google brought back Wallet from the dead in 2022, replacing the legacy Google Pay app. True to its name, the Wallet app acts as your virtual wallet, hosting all credit/debit cards for tap-to-pay, loyalty cards, tickets, and passes. But in typical Google fashion, the company did not transition from Google Pay to Wallet in all countries. In India, it kept the GPay app around for UPI and NFC payments, with the Wallet app nowhere to be seen. That’s changing now, with Google Wallet officially debuting in the country.
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Like all things Google does, though, there’s a catch. Unlike in the rest of the world where Wallet is available, you cannot use it to make payments in India. This functionality will remain available through the Google Pay app, which will coexist with Wallet in the country. You must use the Google Pay app to manage payment methods as well.
So, what can you use Google Wallet for in India? Google says the app will help you quickly access movie or event tickets, boarding passes, and corporate badges. You can also add loyalty or gift cards from a variety of retailers, like Flipkart and Domino’s, and redeem them while shopping to earn points. Since Wallet features Gmail integration, it will automatically pull event or movie tickers from your inbox.
Google confirmed that the Google Pay app is not going anywhere and will remain its default payment app in the country.
Google Wallet is exclusive to Android
Google Wallet won’t be coming to iOS; the app is exclusively available on Android. You can download Google Wallet from the Play Store. If you get an error saying the app is unavailable in your region, try again after a few hours.
Since the Google Pay app is not available for Wear OS and the Wallet app in India lacks tap-to-pay functionality, the best Android smartwatch users will not be able to make contactless payments directly from their wearable.
The co-existence of Google Pay and Google Wallet in India will cause some confusion. Given Google Pay’s popularity, though, it’s not surprising that Google does not want to rebrand the app or merge its functionality with that of the Wallet app.
