Google on Wednesday launched its digital wallet in India with local integrations, nearly two years after relaunching the app as a digital wallet platform in the US
As TechCrunch exclusively reported last month, Google Wallet in India will operate alongside the existing Google Pay app, which will remain the company’s payments app in the country. Google replaced its Pay app with Wallet in the US in February.
“Google Pay isn’t going anywhere. Google Pay is our primary payment use case,” Ram Papatla, general manager and India engineering lead for Android at Google, said at a press conference in New Delhi. “Wallet is specifically tailored to consider non-payment use cases.”
Google Wallet allows Android users in India to store their boarding passes, gift cards, event tickets and loyalty cards. You can add all of this via a QR code, barcode, or link shared via Gmail, or by using a special “Add to Wallet” button available in partner apps.
The app also stores public transport tickets and allows you to create passes from any images that contain a barcode or QR code, such as: E.g. airline boarding passes, luggage tags or parking receipts.
Initially, Google Wallet will work with 20 brands including PVR Inox, Flipkart, Air India, MakeMyTrip, Pine Labs and Ixigo. It has also onboarded local transport companies such as Kochi Metro, Hyderabad Metro, VRL Travels and Abhibus. Additionally, the company has partnered with system integrators Wavelynx and Alert Enterprise to allow users to store and access their corporate ID cards.
According to latest Counterpoint data shared with TechCrunch, Android continues to dominate the smartphone market in India with a 93% market share. In 2023, of the 152 million smartphones shipped in the country, 140 million ran Android. The smartphone penetration rate was 70% this year, up from 66% in 2021, the research firm said.
All this gives Google a good reason to launch Wallet in India. However, it would face competition from Samsung Wallet, which the South Korean company offers as a one-stop digital wallet and payment app. Apple also has its Wallet app for iPhone users in the country, but this app doesn’t have many local integrations. Instant messaging app WhatsApp also offers the ability to receive virtual boarding passes and tickets from platforms such as MakeMyTrip and state-run metro operators.