Report: Google to cut off support for physical Wallet card on June 30
Granted, if you have one it’s probably in a desk drawer next to a non-working Lumia phone and Nexus Player remote. But if you’re still using it, you should know that indications are Google will cut off support on June 30.
That’s the finding from an APK Teardown of the latest version of Google Wallet. The move makes sense, as Google’s mobile payment solution has shifted to Android Pay. Wallet has been re-purposed as an app to send money to individuals, along the lines of Venmo or PayPal.
Because the dates and other details are found in code strings, that’s all subject to change since there hasn’t been any official announcement from Google. Odds are Google will let you transfer the balance to Android Pay or cash it out in some form, but you definitely want to be aware of this if you’re still using a Google Wallet card.
The story behind the story: The Google Wallet card was always a weird beast. Google Wallet was the first major platform to allow you to pay with your phone, but support was so lackluster among retailers that Google released a physical card. But that kind of defeated the purpose of going with Google Wallet in the first place, as you had to go back to paying with a physical card. Once Apple Pay came along, the concept was popular enough for Google to retool its own service with Android Pay. And don’t forget Samsung Pay, because now everybody has to have a service with “Pay” in the name.