The Google Wallet app has started to appear on the Play Store for some users in India. It allows users to store their credit cards, debit cards, flight boarding passes, movie tickets, and many other documents in a digital format. The service has been available in the United States for over two years.
Google Wallet App Spotted on Play Store in India
Multiple Indian users have reported that they can download the Google Wallet app directly from the Play Store. The app is listed on the Google Play Store but can’t be downloaded. Previously, Indian users were required to manually sideload the APK of the Google Wallet app to use it on their Android phones. Although Google has not made the app officially available to all users, the company may release it soon.
The Google Wallet app can be used to store almost any digital card. Users can also manually create a digital version of any document with a QR code or a bar code on it. The app can also store credit cards, debit cards, and transit passes, which can be directly used for contactless payments, on supported phones with NFC. The listing spotted by TechCrunch showed screenshots of Air India, SBI, and PVR Inox. This has now been changed.
However, Google has not officially released its Wallet app in India. Hence, the app is not available for all users, and some may see an error that says “This item is not available in your country”. We have reached out to Google to get a confirmation of the official launch of Google Wallet in India, but a response is still awaited.
A member of our team has received access to Google Wallet in India directly from the Play Store. All the features of the app appeared to be working. Hence, there is a good possibility that the official launch could happen soon.
It is worth noting that Google has slowly replaced its Google Pay app with Google Wallet in some regions like the United States. The company wants to create a unified app for payments and storing documents. However, Indian users need not worry as Google has clarified that the Google Pay app is here to stay.
Google Pay is the second most-used UPI payments app in India, just behind PhonePe. With the recent sanctions on Paytm by the Reserve Bank of India, Google might eye to capture the market share from Paytm users looking to shift to alternative apps. Considering the massive reach of Google Pay in India, and all the GPay branded merchant QR codes across the country, the company is unlikely to rebrand the app here.
In related news, Google recently launched its payments soundbox in India. It comes with a small digital display that shows the battery information and other important details about the speaker.
