Google Wallet now available in India: How is it different from Google Pay?

Unlike the Google Pay, which is a payments platform, Google Wallet offers options to save digital documents, gift cards, tickets, and boarding passes for quick access

Google Wallet is now officially available in India on Android smartphones. With it, you can now save essential digital documents such as boarding passes, loyalty cards, event tickets, public transport passes, gift cards, and more. Google Wallet app is now available on the Google Play Store in India for Android smartphones.

Currently, Google Wallet supports access to digital documents from 20 Indian brands including e-commerce platform Flipkart, Airline companies such as Air India and Indigo, cinema multiplex chain PVR and INOX, and more. Below are the details:

Google Wallet: What you can do with it

Movie and event tickets: Android smartphone users will be able to save their tickets from PVR and INOX movie theatres to their Google Wallet.

Boarding pass: In collaboration with airlines like Air India, Air India Express, Indigo, and online ticketing platforms such as MakeMyTrip, Easymytrip, Ixigo, Google allows Wallet users to save their mobile boarding pass into their Google Wallet for quick access. Additionally, Pixel smartphone users can add their boarding pass to Google Wallet simply by taking a screenshot.

Loyalty and Gift cards: Users can save and access their loyalty points and gift cards from Flipkart (Supercoins), Dominos, Shoppers Stop, and brands supported by loyalty program enablers such as Pinelabs, EasyRewardz and Twid, directly from Google Wallet.

Public transport: Google has partnered with Kochi Metro, Hyderabad Metro, VRL Travels, and Abhibus to provide access to transit tickets of travellers using these services.

Documents: Google Wallet users can create new passes in wallets by simply clicking a picture of any document containing a barcode or QR code. This includes luggage tags and parking receipts.

Apart from these, Google automatically adds tickets and reservations to Google Wallet by scanning details from linked Gmail accounts. However, this functionality is optional and users will have to enable “smart personalization” from their Gmail settings.

How is it different from Google Pay

Google Pay is a payments platform with some features that overlap with Google Wallet. However, it is a more comprehensive digital service for payments. It encompasses peer-to-peer payments, in-store payments, online purchases, and even transit ticketing. Google Pay is designed to be a versatile digital wallet that users can use for a wide range of transactions, including contactless payments at physical stores, in-app purchases, and online shopping.

Google Wallet, India version, is a platform to store digital assets from multiple sources at one place. With it, you can save essential digital documents such as boarding passes, loyalty cards, event tickets, public transport passes, gift cards, and more.

"Google Pay is not going anywhere. It will remain our primary payments app. Google Wallet is specifically tailored for non-payment use cases," said Ram Papatla, GM & India Engineering Lead, Android at Google.