Google merges Android Pay and Google Wallet into new "Google Pay" brand

[[216522]]

Tencent Technology News: In the mobile payment market, Google entered the market early, but now it has fallen behind, one of the reasons is product overlap and brand confusion. According to the latest news from foreign media, Google recently reorganized its mobile payment products and launched a new brand "Google Pay".

According to reports from several US technology media, Google currently has two independent products related to mobile payment, namely Android Pay and Google Wallet. The former is Google's main mobile payment tool, with functions similar to Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. Google also has a person-to-person transfer tool, namely Google Wallet.

Google announced that Android Pay and Google Wallet will be merged into a single product, branded "Google Pay."

This means that in terms of mobile payment branding, Google has remained consistent with its other two major competitors (Samsung Pay and Apple Pay), that is, adopting the Google company name, which is more consistent with the branding of Google's other products and services.

In an official article, a Google executive in charge of mobile payments said that this was more of an adjustment to the product brand rather than a change in related mobile payment technology.

Media analysis pointed out that through product mergers and brand changes, it will be clearer for consumers to use Google Pay in the future. Users do not need to worry about whether to choose the previous Android Pay or Google Wallet, as they are both part of Google Pay products.

The above-mentioned person in charge said that in the next few weeks, Google Pay's brand and services will be fully launched, covering physical retail stores, various Google products, and of course, services for transferring money to friends.

In addition, in order to promote the new brand of Google Pay, Google also launched a promotion and cooperated with brands such as B??H, Fandango and Instacart to provide discounts on products.

Google has taken some detours in branding its mobile payment products, which has caused confusion among consumers. This brand change is equivalent to correcting past mistakes.

Several years ago, Google launched the mobile payment service "Google Wallet" and was one of the first manufacturers in the industry to adopt NFC payment. However, the development of Google Wallet's business has not met expectations. The main reason is that physical stores in the United States do not yet have NFC payment equipment. In addition, the relationship between the US telecommunications industry and Google is not ideal, and they refuse to promote this payment tool.

After the launch of Google Wallet, NFC phones began to gradually become popular around the world, and mobile payment services also ushered in better development conditions. As we all know, Apple launched Apple Pay, and then Samsung Electronics imitated its two major rivals and launched Samsung Pay.

Surprisingly, Google re-launched the "Android Pay" brand, transforming the original Google Wallet into a person-to-person transfer tool. The media believes that Google's move to abandon a familiar Google Wallet brand and launch an unfamiliar brand is a failure of Google's brand policy.

Adopting "Android Pay" does not help Google promote mobile payment products on a larger scale. It is well known that in the Chinese market, although the Android operating system occupies a dominant position, manufacturers have basically deleted various basic services of Google and launched their own mobile payment products and software stores.

Currently, Google Pay, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay are developing markets around the world. Among them, Samsung Pay can support the swiping of old magnetic stripe cards and has better promotion conditions.

It is not yet known how many active users Google Pay has so far.

China has become a global leader in mobile payments. WeChat Pay and Alipay did not adopt the international NFC payment model, but instead launched a more popular and lower-cost QR code payment method. Now, even street beggars have begun to use mobile payments.

However, Alipay and WeChat payment services mainly focus on the domestic market and Chinese tourists traveling abroad, and have not launched QR code payment services for local consumers or merchants in other countries.

Apple Pay and Samsung Pay have already launched services in the Chinese market, but facing the monopoly of WeChat Pay and Alipay, foreign payment service providers basically have no sense of existence. Recently, Apple Pay began to imitate Chinese companies and provide RMB 10 subsidies to taxi users in Shanghai, hoping to avoid being forgotten by Chinese consumers. (Comprehensive/Chenxi)