Starting in June, you'll need to use Google Wallet instead.

Google Pay was largely replaced by Google Wallet back in 2022, but it has still been operating in several countries, including the US. Now, the search giant has announced that the standalone Pay app will be discontinued stateside on June 4, 2024 in a push to simplify its payment methods. After that, it will only be available in Singapore and India due to the "unique needs in those countries," Google wrote in a blog.

As part of the deprecation, Google will be removing peer-to-peer (P2P) payments, managing your balance and "find offers and deals." For the latter, it recommends using the new deals destination on Search. Users will still be able to transfer their Google Pay (GPay) balance to a bank account after June 4, 2024 using the Google Pay website.

Google Wallet has now largely replaced GPay, with five times as many users in 180 countries, the company said. That's because it can handle more than just payments — on top of credit and debit cards, it stores transport passes, state IDs, driver's licenses, virtual car keys and more. Google Pay, the service, will still be available through Google Wallet.

Google's payment system has been a mess over the years. It started off as Google Wallet, which was launched in 2011. At the time, it was a tap-to-pay system that came out years ahead of Apple Pay (2014), supported by Mastercard and retailers like Macy's.

Meanwhile, Android Pay came out in 2015, then that was integrated with Google Wallet in 2018 and rebranded as Google Pay. In addition, the company originally had a Google Wallet card (killed in 2016) that was effectively a prepaid debit card usable with any retailers that accepted Mastercard. Now everything is back under the Google Wallet umbrella — unless the company changes its mind again.

Correction, February 23, 2024, 10:30AM ET: This post has been updated to clarify that only the standalone Google Pay app is shutting down in the US, not the actual service. It will still be available through Google Wallet moving forward.

Source:
courtesy of ENGADGET

by Steve Dent

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