Google Wallet launched in India, without its ‘tap to pay’ feature

Google has introduced Google Wallet in India for Android users but without popular features such as ‘tap to pay’. 

For Indian users, Google Wallet will be an app to organize everyday essentials like boarding passes, loyalty cards, event tickets, public transport tickets, and gift cards, acting as a secure digital wallet instead of a payment app. 

“While the Google Pay app remains your destination for all things payments, Google Wallet now brings a new level of convenience to the Android experience in India,” Google said. 

“To start, we’ve partnered with over 20 of India’s top brands, offering one of the widest ranges of partners for any digital wallet in India,” Ram Papatla, Google’s India engineering lead for Android, and Jenny Cheng, vice president and general manager of Google Wallet, said in a blog post. 

For movie or event tickets, Google has partnered with PVR and INOX. The partnership will allow Android users to add movie and event tickets to Google Wallet.

Google is also partnering with Air India, Air India Express, MakeMyTrip, Ixigo, and Easemytrip to help travelers save and access mobile boarding passes in Google Wallet. 

Google’s partnership with Flipkart (Supercoins), Dominos, Shoppers Stop, and brands supported by loyalty program enablers Pinelabs, EasyRewardz, and Twid will help users to store and use digital copies of loyalty and gift cards.

Besides, Google Wallet will also allow users to purchase and store public transport tickets from Hyderabad Metro, Kochi Metro, VRL Travels, and Abhibus. 

Physical documents having barcodes or QR code, such as boarding passes, luggage tags and parking receipts, can also be digitized using Google Wallet. 

Users can also access some tickets and passes on the Gmail app. 

Google said it looks forward to adding more partners soon.