Back in 2022, Google Wallet has virtually replaced Google Pay as the main tap-and-go app for the tech giant – except in several countries, including the US. But a recent announcement is finally putting an end to the payment app.
Google Pay will be retired on June 4, 2024 in the US and most other regions except Singapore and India, according to the official Google blog. For those still using Pay, Google claims that Wallet offers the same features, but also new ones, such as digital items like transit cards, driver’s licenses, state IDs and more. Google states that Google Wallet is “five times more used than the Google Pay app in the US,” meaning most users appear to have already made the switch.
However, if you’re currently using the Google Pay app, you can still view and transfer your balance up to the cutoff point, including transferring it to your bank account. After the cutoff point, you can only transfer balances to bank accounts through the Google Pay website. After June 4, you will no longer be able to send, receive or request money from others via the app.
The transition can be a problem
The news that Google Pay is officially ending shouldn’t come as a surprise to most people, as Google Wallet had already taken over years ago. I was honestly shocked that Pay was still around at this point, especially since Wallet is the superior app thanks to its wealth of features and support.
However, there is one major hurdle that Google will have to overcome and that is the branding problem. Even though most people use Google Wallet, it doesn’t mean they call it that. It’s still commonly known as Google Pay, thanks to how close it is to Apple Pay, and many retailers use the Pay sticker.
Google Wallet is easily one of them best mobile payment apps out there and it would be a shame if brand recognition were lost because so many users are not even aware of the name change. Especially if Google, instead of a good information campaign to let people know about the switch, simply hands out new stickers to replace the old ones in stores.
While that is a valid part of the strategy to convert people, it cannot be the only one or there will be serious confusion and even distrust. If the average user doesn’t understand that Wallet is a simple conversion through Pay, chances are they won’t want to trust that app for future purchases. And it’s even worse because data theft is so prevalent these days, which could contribute to even more distrust.
It doesn’t help that Google had a broken physical card that was no longer supported, which arguably damaged the brand even more. Hopefully the tech giant has a plan for this transition, otherwise it will cause major problems in the long run.