Google sends another app to heaven. This time, the long-standing Google Pay app will no longer be available to U.S. users starting June 4, 2024.
Google said the planned action is to simplify payment options. The company wants to migrate users to Google Wallet, which is much more popular than the Pay app (according to Google, it is used five times more in the US).
“Google Wallet continues to be the primary place to securely store payment cards used for tap and pay in stores, along with digital items such as transportation cards, driver’s licenses, and state IDs.” “To simplify your experience, the U.S. version of the standalone Google Pay app will no longer be available after June 4, 2024,” Google product manager Joris van Mens posted on The Keyword blog.
This means users of the Google Pay app in the US have until June 4th to transfer their balance to another bank account. Users will then have to transfer funds via the Google Pay website instead. Peer-to-peer payments will also stop working on June 4th, along with access to in-app transactions.
Google says if you’re waiting for cashback from in-app transactions and the June 4 deadline has passed, the regular rewards payout schedule will still apply. When it comes to transactions, Google seems to be moving users to Google Search rather than porting them to the Wallet app.
It’s not clear exactly what will happen to the Google Pay app after June 4th, but it looks like it will simply be a window to check your balance, but you won’t be able to interact with it. To be completely safe, it’s worth transferring your balance to another account before the deadline. To learn how, check out our guide here. For users in Singapore and India, the app remains fully functional.
After experimenting with several mobile payment methods over the years, Google seems to have settled on making Wallet the primary and default Android payment app. Sending or receiving money is not supported and cashback on purchases is not provided. The app is a simple tap-and-pay method and also stores payment cards, loyalty cards, transit passes, and some government IDs. We’ll have to wait and see if Google adds more features to Wallet in the future, but after a decade of creating and retiring various payment models, the simple nature of Wallet is perfect. This is likely intentional and likely permanent.
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