After some years where no clear strategy for Wallet could be seen, Google shows that they still consider mobile wallet apps a major part of the mobile experience by relaunching Google Pay and renaming it to Google Wallet. This means Google is catching up to Apple Wallet and creates an impact on the whole mobile wallet space by creating competitive pressure for other providers.
Mobile phones are an integral part of our daily lives for years now and for over a decade, iPhone users also had a way to store digital cards in the preinstalled Passbook app that was later renamed to Apple Wallet. Android users, though, had less a less robust choice and were also forced to get comfortable with different names and sets of functionalities for the same thing. The app today known as Google Wallet was initially launched as Google Wallet, then renamed to Android Pay which was then renamed to Google Pay. After almost a decade, Google seems to have decided that Wallet deserves a more consistent approach and decided to relaunch as Google Wallet.
The relaunch however is not just a simple rebranding, it also adds additional functionality like car keys, keys for your home while keeping standard features like payment and store cards, vouchers and more that were part of the app for ages.
Except for the ability to send push notifications to passes that sit within the app, Google and Apple Wallet are now finally at a stage where Android users don’t have to compromise. Notifications to user’s lock screens are an important feature for businesses offering the passes, though so there’s still room for improvement.
On a broader scale these updates mean that digitization of user’s physical wallets is accelerating and given the right setup, we’ve reached a stage where all you need when leaving home is the Smartphone in your pocket! It will unlock your car, start charging if you’ve switched to electric vehicles already, open the door at the office, allow you to pay and automatically flash relevant vouchers and store cards at your lock screen. After work, when you had a drink with colleagues and friends, you can leave your car at work and use your phone to hop on the train home instead and then unlock the door of your home! This is not a fairy tale. This is reality already and it becomes more affordable for the masses each day. Smartphones are the most important piece of technology in our daily lives and wallet apps are an integral part of them – finally!
Fingers crossed that your battery is always charged! But even that is not a problem since both iPhones and Android can serve the critical parts even when your phone is off.
While the last decade was to a large part preparation and developing the tools for mass adoption, it’s finally time for every company to be part of the mobile Wallet of their users if they don’t want to be left behind. Wallet passes don’t have to be the main part of your business but given the accessibility and flexibility for both end users and business owners, they are sure built to make the journey more convenient, more personalized, and more flexible for customers globally!
If you want to start today, sign up for the platform that enables businesses to be a part of your customers daily lives and wallets: https://app.passcreator.com/en/register