What do you use your phone for? Surfing the web, playing games, launching favorite apps, watching video maybe? Perhaps, though this is rather old school, for phone calls? Whatever your preferences, you probably also use the phone to pay for stuff, to show boarding passes or event tickets. That means Google Wallet, and it’s just added a new feature that the iPhone Wallet doesn’t match: automatically adding linked passes.
Abner Li at 9to5Google has just revealed the new feature is on its way. It makes sense: one of the most satisfying ways to use your smartphone is to tap it to pay at a card reader, or to show a boarding pass at an airport. Much easier than digging out your wallet or finding that thin strip of paper the airline gave you—there are so many things to think about in the strange world that is an airport that only having to keep track of your phone is a boon.
Google Wallet, in this regard, has sometimes lagged behind Apple Wallet, simply because many tickets, passes and more are not available in Google’s favored format. This has just changed (with the addition of a cool new feature).
Now, Google is adding the option to link passes. When you open Google Wallet and click on your profile details in the top right corner, you can choose Wallet settings. Here, an all-new item is on the page, headed Passes. It’s on by default and the wording reads, “Allow pass providers to automatically add related event tickets, promotions, offers and more to your existing passes.”
Which means what? Well, you won’t find the answer by clicking “Learn more”, because the link isn’t live yet.
But the effect of this new element is this, as described in this background explainer from Google: “The Auto Linked Passes feature lets [the developer] send additional passes to a user who already has your existing pass in their Google Wallet.” In other words, if you have, for example, a loyalty card on your phone and there’s suddenly a new offer, it can be sent to your Wallet automatically. Similarly, if a boarding pass gains an option of a meal voucher, this can be delivered to you.
With the right offer, this could be a very useful addition, and Apple’s Wallet doesn’t seem to offer it yet. You can share passes from one iPhone to another, but pass providers can’t update passes in this way.
There are other new elements in the app, including verification settings for public transport so the phone would automatically look for transit payment cards first and only if none is found would it go to a credit or debit card. Since it would activate transit cards without verification, it speeds up interactions on public transport. This feature arrived in late March.
