Google Wallet Enters The Indian Market

Google Wallet has been launched in India, but the current Google Pay app will continue to serve as the primary platform for all payment-related activities in the country.

The Wallet app will allow users to access gift cards, public transport tickets, event tickets, loyalty cards, boarding passes, and other items. More than 20 brands, including BMW, Dominos, and Air India have signed on as launch partners.

Google Aims To Provide Users With Convenient And Versatile Payment Solutions

The launch in India differs from the majority of countries, where Wallet took over from Pay in 2022. Google originally provided both apps in the US but discontinued Pay earlier this year. Google Pay has also recently signed an agreement with India’s NPCI to expand the highly popular UPI to other nations.

Google Wallet (also known as Wallet) is a digital wallet platform created by Google. It is accessible for the Fitbit OS operating systems, Wear OS, and Android, and was unveiled at the 2022 Google I/O keynote, on May 11, 2022.

The “Google Wallet” brand name was initially utilized for the firm’s mobile payment system of the same name. It was initiated in 2011 before merging with Android Pay into a fresh application called Google Pay in 2018.

The former Wallet app was renamed Google Pay Send before it was also suspended in 2020, with its functionality abridged to a peer-to-peer payments solution. The Google Pay app underwent a significant redesign in terms of Google’s India-focused Tez app, in 2020.

It became a comprehensive personal finance application. This reinstated the Tez application on the Play Store, while the 2018 Google Pay app remained as a pre-installed, separate app on Android smartphones.

Google Seeks To Establish Google Pay As A Leading Digital Wallet

Google showcased the initial version of the original Google Wallet app during a press conference on May 26, 2011. The first app was exclusively launched in the US on September 19, 2011. At the outset, the app solely accommodated Mastercard cards issued by Citibank.

On May 15, 2013, Google revealed the fusion of Gmail and Google Wallet, enabling users to transmit money through Gmail attachments. Although Google Wallet was solely accessible in the United States, the Gmail integration was extended to the United Kingdom and the U.S.

In 2015, a physical Google Wallet card was introduced as an optional addition to the app. It enables users to conduct purchases at point-of-sale by utilizing funds from their Google Wallet account, linked bank account, or debit card account.

The card also permitted cash withdrawals at ATMs without any associated Google fee and could be utilized similarly to a debit card for various purposes, such as renting a car.