{"id":495663,"date":"2026-06-25T23:40:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T23:40:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/495663\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T23:40:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T23:40:21","slug":"i-spent-a-week-testing-google-wallet-to-see-if-i-could-finally-leave-my-house-without-a-bag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/495663\/","title":{"rendered":"I spent a week testing Google Wallet to see if I could finally leave my house without a bag"},"content":{"rendered":"

My daily driver is a Samsung Galaxy phone that supports Samsung Wallet. I use the wallet app almost every day, but I also have Google Wallet installed on my phone for serving a specific purpose<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If I ever change my primary handset from Samsung Galaxy to a phone from another brand, I’ll use the Google Wallet app as the default.<\/p>\n

My Galaxy S21 is more than five years old and is no longer eligible for major Android software updates. So, I’ve started preparing to buy a new phone to replace my S21, though I haven’t yet finalized which one I’ll buy.<\/p>\n

A non-Galaxy phone will likely replace it, as I’m gravitating towards a premium Google Pixel phone.<\/p>\n

The preparation for it is not just saving money, but also getting used to living with Google Wallet as the primary wallet app.<\/p>\n

So, I spent a week testing Google Wallet to see if I could leave my house without a bag. Here is how it went.<\/p>\n


\n \"An<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\t\t
\n\t\t\tHow to add your passport to Google Wallet
\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Travel domestically with just your phone<\/p>\n

I don’t mind using Google Wallet as the default payment app<\/p>\n

But it still isn’t as good as Samsung Wallet<\/p>\n

\"Google<\/p>\n

Google Wallet isn’t consistent across all parts of the world.<\/p>\n

For example, in my region, the app can’t make payments on its own using cards. Google Wallet redirects users to another app called Google Pay to complete the payment.<\/p>\n

In the US, the experience is better because it doesn’t require users to switch to another Google app to complete the payment.<\/p>\n

That’s how it should be everywhere, but the company’s payment strategy is rather confusing, and the Google Wallet app suffers from it the most.<\/p>\n

Why have the Tap & pay option in Google Wallet when another app will handle the payment?<\/p>\n

However, the Tap & pay option in Google Wallet gives me hope that someday Google may merge the Google Pay app with Google Wallet, allowing users to make payments with a single wallet app.<\/p>\n

I wouldn’t mind the current setup, though. Ultimately, what matters the most is that Google Wallet gets the job done. I can afford the inconvenience because it’s only one additional step.<\/p>\n

However, I would’ve loved to see a Quick access-like feature in Google Wallet to launch the app quickly.<\/p>\n

You can add a Google Wallet shortcut or use double-press to launch the app quickly, but they don’t come close to the home swipe up from the bottom gesture in Samsung Wallet.<\/p>\n

It wouldn’t have mattered if Google Wallet could make payments on its own. In that case, all I would’ve required to do was take the phone close to the POS terminal, and Google Wallet would’ve completed the payment.<\/p>\n

Google Wallet has a long way to go in supporting IDs<\/p>\n

It’s getting better, but not quite there yet<\/p>\n

\"A
\n Credit:\u00a0Lucas Gouveia \/ Android Police | Mr.Jakrapong phoaphom \/ Shutterstock<\/p>\n

I was well aware that Google Wallet isn’t nearly as good as Samsung Wallet<\/a> at supporting digital IDs in my region. But I didn’t expect it to be this bad.<\/p>\n

Google Wallet doesn’t support any transport passes in my state, nor does it allow users to choose from more than a couple of healthcare providers to generate and manage their health lockers.<\/p>\n

I can’t fully trust Google Wallet to help me verify my identity on my phone because Aadhaar, which is India’s unique identification number, is the only ID it can store.<\/p>\n

Unlike Samsung Wallet, I can’t store my driver’s license in the Google Wallet app. If given a choice, I’d store my driving license in Google Wallet over Aadhaar since it’s the ID I need more often.<\/p>\n

The problem goes beyond its inability to store a driver’s license.<\/p>\n

Documents like vehicle insurance certificates, marksheets, and a unique identifier from the Tax department are not available on Google Wallet. You’ll need to carry them all separately in your physical wallet.<\/p>\n

I can trust Google Wallet to handle tickets better than anyone<\/p>\n

I can’t praise Google Wallet enough for how well it handles my tickets.<\/p>\n

I don’t need to add tickets to Google Wallet to store them, as it automatically imports them from my Gmail account after I receive a confirmation email in my inbox.<\/p>\n

Google Wallet can also automatically import items like boarding passes, loyalty cards, and receipts from Gmail.<\/p>\n

Using Google Wallet to show a ticket before I enter a movie theater has become a habit. With Google Wallet installed, I can turn a physical ticket into a digital one by taking a photo of it.<\/p>\n

The way Google Wallet handles tickets and event passes makes it difficult for anyone to ignore Google Wallet.<\/p>\n

After a week-long experiment, Google Wallet couldn’t replace my physical wallet<\/p>\n

What’s holding Google Wallet back is its ability to let users store important government IDs. This is something my Galaxy S21 does incredibly well, thanks to Samsung Wallet.<\/p>\n

If I buy a non-Galaxy phone right now and use it as my primary phone, I would use Google Wallet for its excellent ability to auto-import tickets and passes from Gmail<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, I would also carry my physical wallet, though the good thing is it’d be less bulky.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"My daily driver is a Samsung Galaxy phone that supports Samsung Wallet. I use the wallet app almost…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":495664,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[342,111,139,69,145],"class_list":["post-495663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-mobile","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=495663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/495664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=495663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}