The immediate old name of the current Google Wallet application, as of its 2022 reintroduction, was Google Pay. Google officially announced the return of Google Wallet on May 11, 2022, at the 2022 Google I/O keynote, effectively transitioning much of the Google Pay functionality into the new Wallet experience.
Understanding the Evolution of Google's Digital Payment Services
Google's journey in the digital payments and wallet space has seen several name changes and consolidations over the years, leading to a somewhat cyclical naming convention. The service currently known as Google Wallet is the latest iteration in a lineage that began over a decade ago.
The evolution can be summarized as follows:
- Original Google Wallet (2011-2015): Google first launched a mobile payment system named Google Wallet in 2011, which allowed users to make contactless payments and store loyalty cards.
- Android Pay (2015-2018): In 2015, Google introduced Android Pay, a new mobile payment platform for Android devices, which largely replaced the payment functionality of the original Google Wallet. The original Google Wallet app continued for peer-to-peer payments for a time.
- Google Pay (2018-2022): In 2018, Google consolidated Android Pay and the remaining features of Google Wallet under a single unified brand: Google Pay. This platform served as a comprehensive solution for tap-to-pay, online payments, and peer-to-peer money transfers.
- Google Wallet (Reintroduced 2022): In 2022, Google Wallet was reintroduced, primarily serving as the digital wallet for storing payment cards, transit passes, digital IDs, car keys, and more. While Google Pay continues to exist for peer-to-peer transactions and web payments in certain regions, the core digital wallet application was rebranded back to Google Wallet.
This reintroduction of the Google Wallet name aimed to emphasize its role as a secure and private place for users' essential items, much like a physical wallet, while Google Pay continued to function as the underlying payment processing platform for online and in-app transactions.
Key Milestones in Google's Payment App Naming
To illustrate the progression, here's a brief timeline:
| Year | Product Name | Key Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Google Wallet | Initial launch of Google's mobile payment service. |
| 2015 | Android Pay | Introduced as a new NFC-based payment solution for Android. |
| 2018 | Google Pay | Unified Android Pay and remnants of Google Wallet. |
| 2022 | Google Wallet | Reintroduced as the primary digital wallet app (from Google Pay). |
For more details on Google Wallet, you can refer to its Wikipedia page.
