New hints suggest Google Pay could be set for a major change

Google’s plan to transform Google Pay from a mere mobile payments app to a “comprehensive digital wallet” could be one step closer to implementation now that a new “Wallet” icon has emerged.

As reported by 9to5Google which saw the icon in question, the search giant’s new “Wallet” icon makes use of the colors green, yellow, red and blue just like Gmail, Drive, Meet and the rest of the company’s other mobile apps.

However, unlike the current GPay logo that is made up of two multi-colored, interlocking arcs, the new icon features an actual wallet in blue with red, yellow and green cards inside it. At the same time, the new icon is less obvious than the Google Pay icon which features a multicolored “G” next to the word “Pay”.

Not only is the new icon a welcome sight compared to those of GPay and Google Pay but it also fits with Google’s plans to to turn Google Pay into a comprehensive virtual wallet that goes beyond payments.

A comprehensive digital wallet

Following Google pulling the plug on its banking and personal finance service Plex in October of last year, the company hired a former PayPal executive to help reset its strategy.

Google now wants Pay to “become the connective tissue for the entire consumer finance industry” according to Bloomberg and this includes working together with partners in the cryptocurrency space. 

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As Google Pay transforms from a mobile payments app to a comprehensive digital wallet, the service could also be used to store “digital tickets, airline passes and vaccine passports” in a similar way to Apple Wallet.

While the new “Wallet” icon could end up replacing the current one for Google Pay, Google still has plenty of challenges to overcome when it comes to payments. This is because GPay is available in the US, India and Singapore while Google Pay is available in the rest of the world. Both apps also have different features as GPay includes support for peer-to-peer payments, purchasing transit passes, paying for parking and gas and more while Google Pay only shows a carousel of stored payment cards and passes.

Although the new “Wallet” icon gives an idea as to Google Pay’s future, we’ll have to wait until we hear more from the company itself regarding how its mobile payments app will be transformed into a comprehensive digital wallet.

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Via 9to5Google

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