Google is bringing Google Wallet to India, nearly two years after the digital wallet platform was relaunched in the United States.
The Indian app will let people load loyalty cards and make purchases. Google says it plans local integrations with high-profile launch partners, and expects the Indian version to look different from the American one. India is Google’s largest market for payments and has the biggest Android user base, which is why the company wants the app tailored to it.
Google Pay stays
The unusual part is what Google is not doing. In other markets it has folded Wallet and Pay into one experience. In India, Google Pay will keep running as its own app for now.
The reason is traction. Google Pay is the second most used UPI app in the country, behind PhonePe, and Google wants to keep supporting it next to the new wallet features.
What it means for rivals
The report from technology outlet CTOL expects the move to affect other digital payment players, PhonePe in particular, along with Indian financial institutions. By its reading, Google anticipates more users and engagement in the short term, and possibly consolidation in the market over the long term. Google has not published projections of its own, according to that account.
