If you didn’t already know, Google finally simplified its payments mechanism for Android users by merging Android Pay and Google Wallet. This new solution has been dubbed as Google Pay and seems like it has already started showing up for some consumers.
The latest Play Services beta update (v11.9.73) has brought along the new Google Pay branding to Android devices, who had signed up for the beta program and have NFC on their phones. This replaces the Android Pay logo and tags that were previously shown in the settings window.
To check out if the Google Pay branding is live on your device, you can navigate to the “Settings > Apps & Notifications > Advanced” settings window. Under advanced, which is located at the very bottom as a drop-down, select the default apps > tap & pay option. This is where you’ll see the updated branding upon choosing the default payment method, which would not lead to any changes in the functionality.
We’ve already received the beta update on our Pixel 2 and OnePlus 5T. You can get the first glimpse of the Google Pay branding right here:
The availability of the “Google Pay” logo in the settings does not mean that the service has gone live. This is the extent of the payment service’s presence on Android phones who’re running the latest Play Services beta. The Android Pay app hasn’t bagged the branding update and Google Wallet has also not been excluded from our devices.
This is a surprising development as Google had announced that Google Pay will officially become available to consumers over the coming weeks. But, it seems the search giant is already testing the feature and the new branding was sent out early to some devices. It indicates that Google Pay could be made available to users sooner than expected.
After the unveiling of Google Pay earlier this week, I really hope Google takes such similar steps to refine its cluttered messaging ecosystem as well. In India, Google Tez is also likely to get a new name as indicated by Google. The Android users are perplexed about the apps they should use to communicate, so it’d be a great initiative for the search giant to handle right away. Don’t you think so? Tell us your opinion in the comments below.
