Alphabet Inc. Google will let consumers store and use credit cards, event tickets and car keys in a new Wallet app that it is separating from its Longtime Pay app.
California-based company Mountain View said consumers in the US and Singapore will have access to both apps, with Pay being used for financial management and transferring money to friends or family, while the Wallet app in 39 other markets will replace Pay. Will take Annual Google I/O Developer Conference Wednesday.
Google’s President of Commerce Bill Ready said in an interview, “As things go digital so quickly, it’s become very clear that you’re moving beyond just a payment context, and so we need to give users a dedicated Need to give home.” “Mobile drivers’ licenses, car keys, they go beyond just payment use cases.”
Google debuted its payments app in 2015 and revamped it in late 2020 into a hub for consumers to track expenses and discounts. The company said the app had 150 million monthly active users globally at the time. But Google got Apple Inc. As well as facing stiff competition from its own partners on Android devices like Samsung Electronics Co.
With Ready, which joined the technology giant in 2020, Google is shaking up its approach to payments. For example, in October, the company shelved a year’s plan to launch a digital checking and savings service for the Pay app, for which it had already roped in about a dozen banking partners.
Google Pay has gained some traction in India. There, users will be able to use the Pay app they are familiar with, the company said in a statement.
Separately, Google announced a change to its Chrome browser that will allow users to convert any credit and debit cards saved with Chrome’s auto-fill feature into a virtual card. This means they will not need to find the additional security code on the back of their card when making an online payment.
Ready, who spent eight years at PayPal Holdings Inc. and some of its subsidiaries, said Google is not charging users for changes to its app. Instead, he said, it aims to promote use of the company’s myriad apps and services.
“We don’t need to monetize on payments,” Ready said. “We are not charging for it, but we believe it has the potential to be tremendously beneficial to the advancement of the free and open web, and we see that comes back and pays dividends for the ecosystem.” pays.”
This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed. Only the title has been changed.