Google is rumoured to be bringing back its Google Wallet product in some form after it made the app part of Google Pay, along with images of the new app icon.
The reports say the company is creating a Wallet interface for Google Play Services that will act as a way to access and manage your payment and transit cards, passes, rewards memberships, and more.
This new take on Wallet appears to be pitched as a true digital wallet for all of your cards, whether payment, gift, loyalty, or transport tickets.
The app’s settings menu appears to mention that the new Google Wallet will pull in passes and tickets from your Gmail account automatically, much like Google Pay can do right now.
Google Wallet started as Google’s NFC payment app in 2011, acting as a place for you to store payment cards digitally.
Over its life, it evolved as a digital (and sometimes physical) payment service over the years to become sort of a Venmo competitor before it was folded together with Android pay to create Google Pay in 2018.
That app has since been totally revamped, turning into much more than an app you use to send friends money and store your digital cards.
Google is also collaborating with Mastercard, Visa and American Express to launch Wallet, which will store virtual card numbers on Chrome and Android.
Starting this summer, Google will roll out the virtual cards feature to help users in 40 countries safely store numbers for payment cards.
There are also plans to include credentials for boarding passes, vaccine passes, and event tickets in the digital wallet.
The initiative is a long-awaited move after Apple rolled out its Apple Wallet for iOS users in 2012.
Users will be able to pay with the wallet wherever Google Pay is accepted.