In the world of mobile payment systems, Google had a bit of an identity crisis until earlier this year. Their services once included Android Pay, Google Wallet, and Pay with Google. The Android Pay app was a digital wallet that used NFC to make payments. Google Wallet was a peer-to-peer payment service for people to send and receive money. Pay with Google used the Google Payment API to allow users to make payments via Google Assistant or web browsers with any card on file with their Google account. To reduce confusion, Google introduced the “Google Pay” brand at the beginning of 2018 to unify these services. However, Google Wallet remained a separate app (though it was rebranded as “Google Pay Send”). Now, it seems that the Google Pay Send features are nearly ready to be integrated into the main app.
Google Pay services. Source: Google.
We were told this integration would be happening back during the initial rollout of the Pay service. Specifically, the integration would be rolling out “within the next few months,” though we haven’t heard any further news in the four months that have passed. Regardless, it appears that the former Google Wallet features are already fully functional in the standard Pay app, and furthermore, the peer-to-peer payments even work in the United Kingdom (the Pay Send app doesn’t work in the U.K.)
The integration was discovered by XDA Recognized Developer Quinny899 (Kieron Quinn of Mighty Quinn Apps) and confirmed by us. With the Google Pay Send app uninstalled, we were able to activate the peer-to-peer payment functionality within the standard app and successfully send a payment. As you can see in the screenshots below, a new “send money” tab appears in the bottom toolbar. Tapping on this brings us to a page where we can send or request money from either an existing contact or new contact. Even a group request can be made on this page.
Once this feature rolls out in the U.S. and U.K., you’ll no longer need to install the separate Google Pay Send app to take advantage of the peer-to-peer payment functionality. For now, you’ll have to keep both apps installed if you want to send or receive money to or from other people.
Google Pay Send (Free, Google Play) →
We’ll keep an eye out on any new Pay features that we spot. The service continues to become more useful over time with new features like support for mobile boarding passes and event tickets (…almost like a wallet, no?) and sending money via Google Assistant.