Google Wallet and Pay are prime examples of Google's tendency to give its products cryptic names. The development of these two applications has been anything but straightforward. Which one is the correct one to use?

There have been several significant updates to both Google Wallet and Google Pay. Their original intent has evolved significantly, leaving many individuals bewildered. Let's see what each one has to offer by comparing them.

What you should know

To your surprise, Google Wallet has been around since 2011. The primary use of the program was international money transfers. However, an actual Google Wallet credit card was also available.

With the Google Wallet card, customers could use their account balance to make purchases at brick-and-mortar and online retailers alike. This was before tap-to-pay mobile payments became commonplace. There was a lot of ingenuity put into the Wallet card.

Tap-to-pay caught on, and in 2015 Google introduced Android Pay. The Google Wallet card was terminated in 2016, although the company continued to support Android Pay and Wallet until combining them into a single product dubbed "Google Pay" in 2018.

After then, in the year 2020, Google Pay had a significant update that included many new capabilities. For a short moment, Google's many mobile payment options were unified. The service was divided in two in the summer of 2022, with the Google Wallet name and logo coming back.

That is the state of affairs in the year 2022, September. Sometimes, Google Pay and Google Wallet are two different services. I'll elaborate more about that later.

Google wallet VS Google Pay: Which one is better

You might not even have to choose an app if you reside in a specific place. It's only in the United States and Singapore that you can use Google Pay and Google Wallet simultaneously. Google Wallet has replaced Google Pay in every other nation except India (September 2022).

Google Pay has the same capabilities as Google Wallet. However, Google Wallet does not have the same capabilities as Google Pay. Depending on your location, you may use the complete service (Pay) or only make mobile payments (Wallet). There's no use in having both of them.

Pay friends and family, get discounts and rewards, and manage your finances with Google Pay. If that's all you're interested in, Google Wallet provides a more simplified experience for mobile payments. For iPhone users, the decision is much more black and white: Google Pay is your sole option.

To sum up, Google Pay and Google Wallet are both ways to make mobile payments through the Google ecosystem. Not as tricky as it may seem, but Google isn't making its argument any more accessible.

What exactly is Google Wallet?

You can sum up Google Wallet by saying it's a digital wallet. Credit cards, debit cards, loyalty cards, public transit passes, event tickets, vaccination cards, and gift cards are all accepted.

Simply put, you can use Google Wallet to make in-store and online purchases using tap-to-pay. Your cards, tickets, and passes are shown in a straightforward interface. Since Apple doesn't let third-party applications be used for Apple Pay on the iPhone, Google Wallet is Android-exclusive.

Google Pay: What Is It?

In 2020, Google Pay had a significant revamp, and the current version is essentially the same. Google Pay still offers the tap-to-pay feature but has other features.

Peer-to-peer payments, retail discounts, cashback incentives, and a full-fledged banking experience with personal finance insights are all included in the Google Pay app. Pay may be compared to Venmo, PayPal, RetailMeNot, and Mint-like services.

Google Pay is accessible on Android and iPhone, unlike Google Wallet. On the iPhone, the other functionalities function but not the tap-to-pay option. It's a feature-rich program that strives to do a lot. Some individuals might find it too much, which is why Google Wallet exists.

In most cases, you may use Google Wallet with any card reader that accepts Apple Pay, Google Pay, or contactless tap-to-pay. If you're making an online purchase, keep an eye out for the Google Pay or Wallet buttons. It will take time for Wallet to become as ubiquitous as Google Pay.

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