Google delighted fans today by announcing that Android Pay and Google Wallet would be combined and subsequently replaced by Google Pay. The two payment platforms confuse many users by either offering retail payment services, or else a platform for sending money to known contacts. Enter Google Pay, a solution to make cash payments easier and more efficient for users.
Google Wallet started in 2011 and enabled people to send money to direct email addresses or phone numbers linked to the recipient account. The app is simple and easy to use. One merely links a credit or debit card to the Google Wallet account and then chooses to send or request money. Additionally, unlike other payment services (ahem PayPal), there is no transaction fee, it is instant and secure, and you can even deposit automatically to your bank account. But aside from sending your friends and family cash, the service is pretty useless.
Android Pay was primarily designed to allow people to make simple and secure payments from their mobile phones. While the app can be installed on a variety of Android phones and watches, it still possesses one basic function: making payments at compatible cash registers via “tap-and-pay.” Unfortunately, Android Pay suffered from a variety of issues in my use. I, for one, lost hundreds of dollars in gift cards by adding them to my Android Pay account. Google supposedly saved all of the barcodes/card numbers in my account to use at relevant retail stores. Unfortunately, whatever barcodes Android Pay generated did not work, and most card numbers were gibberish when I asked the cashier to key them in.
That aside, Google Pay brings a welcomed simplification. Consolidating the two services should enable people to link their credit or debit card to a single Google Pay account and either pay for groceries or send money to a friend as a birthday gift. The tech giant is looking to expand its brand name, and naming its products and services with the Google logo is one sure way to make that happen.
Source: Google Blog
