[eMarketer] Google brings back Wallet and boosts security with virtual card solution

Google relaunched its Wallet app across most markets and introduced virtual cards for online shopping, per a press release.

In Singapore and the US, Google launched the Wallet app on Android and WearOS to complement the Google Pay app. In all other markets (except India) the Google Pay app will become the Wallet app.

Google Autofill—a Chrome feature that autopopulates users’ stored payment credentials on online payment forms—will give users the option to convert their cards to virtual cards.

In markets where Google Pay is becoming Google Wallet, users will still be able to store their payment cards and other digital documents and make payments anywhere Google Pay is accepted. In the US and Singapore, however, the standalone Google Pay app will focus on financial management and payment features, including peer-to-peer (P2P) payments.

According to eMarketer, Google is adapting to serve an increasingly digital world.

Items that would’ve once been stored in a physical wallet—like driver’s licenses and hotel keys—already or will soon have digital versions that can be stored in mobile wallets.

Digitization ramped up during the pandemic as brands tried to address consumers’ preference for touchless experiences. Google may have chosen to rebrand the Pay app to Wallet in select markets to position itself as an app that stores an array of digital tools beyond payment cards.

Read the full eMarketer article here

www.emarketer.com