A sneak peek of Google Wallet, which the firm inadvertently uploaded to the Google Play store in India, indicates that the software will eventually make its debut there, over two years after it was relaunched as a digital wallet platform in the United States.
The company denied to confirm that the app will soon be available for Android users after TechCrunch discovered the listing for it. Among other things, the app will allow users to load loyalty cards and make purchases. However, it then seems to extract certain information from the listing, including what seem to be well-known Indian launch partners. (The app now includes American companies in a more general way.)
Google did affirm to usβin a somewhat perplexing wayβthat it will keep running Google Pay.
as a stand-alone app in the nation, for the time being anyway. This is in contrast to almost every other market, where Google has been combining the Pay and Wallet experiences into a single Wallet app.
“Although we don’t currently have anything new to report, we’re constantly striving to improve the convenience of Indians’ digital experiences. In an email to TechCrunch, a Google representative stated, “We’re continuing to invest in the Google Pay app to give people easy, secure access to digital payments.”
We are aware that a contributing factor in the situation appears to be the widespread use of Google Pay in the nation; it is generally acknowledged that India represents Google’s largest payment market worldwide, ranking second only to PhonePe in terms of usage.
The Indian version of Google Wallet is anticipated to be different from the American one, not least since Google has stated that it intends to keep offering Google Pay as its payment service in India. One of Google’s goals is to offer local integrations for the Wallet app in the nation where its largest Android user base resides.
Screenshots of the Indian airline Air India, the state-owned bank State Bank of India, and the multiplex chain PVR Inox were included in the Google Wallet listing that TechCrunch discovered last week. This suggests that loyalty points can be redeemed through these companies. (Google added American brands to the listing shortly after TechCrunch contacted them for comment.)
Although the current Google Wallet software is not yet accessible in India through the Play Store, some Android users there have reportedly been using it for some time, according to Beebom, an Indian news source. Though users can add credit and debit cards for contactless payments, the app does not accept local loyalty programmes or companies in India. As a result, its utility is limited.
These most recent adjustments are the culmination of Google’s constant shifting between multiple financial services and apps with distinct names. Back in 2011, Google Wallet was introduced as the business’s payment solution. Google then introduced Android Pay. Then, it attempted to use Google Pay in place of the Wallet and its Android Pay app. Google brought back the Wallet in 2022.
app as its Wear OS, Fitbit OS, and Android digital wallet platform. But the search engine behemoth declared in February of this year that the Wallet app would take the place of Google Pay in the United States.
In contrast to its American counterpart, Google Pay in India facilitates payments using the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), a system supported by the Indian government. This is one of the reasons Google Pay is different in India, and if people are already using it, another reason it might decide to keep offering them an alternative.
With Walmart’s PhonePe being the most popular UPI app in India, Google Pay appears to have a strong incentive to be supported while providing Wallet users with digital wallet experiences. The Google Pay application started more
More than 5 billion transactions totaling more than $83 billion were made in March, according to figures released by National Payments Corporation of India, the company that owns UPI.
