Google Wallet was announced last May at I/O and arrived a few weeks later. There was one “coming soon” exception, but Google Wallet is now rolling out in Japan.
At I/O 2022, Google said Wallet was “coming soon” to Japan. It was one of the rollout exceptions alongside India sticking with GPay, and the US and Singapore getting Wallet and keeping GPay.
A little over 10 months later, Google Wallet is ready for Japan. Like in other countries, the Google Pay app already on your phone will get an update and become Google Wallet. This is rolling out gradually via the Play Store over the next few weeks. The app sees some tweaks to the homescreen to accommodate the country’s various payment methods.
If you have existing electronic money, transportation IC cards (Suica / PASMO), credit cards, and debit cards stored in Google Pay, they will be automatically transferred to Google Wallet.
Translation
Since launch, Google Wallet has rolled out to more countries, tested digital driver’s license support in the US, added whimsical transaction animations. We’re still waiting for Google to add more features to Wallet on Wear OS, like transit card support.
With the Japan transition underway, Google can focus on Wallet. There’s still GPay, but it’s steadily losing features:
- The GPay app is going down to just two tabs
- GPay and Google Assistant losing ‘pay for gas’ in the US; in-app parking also deprecated
Author: Abner Li
Source: 9TO5Google
