Google Wallet just launched in South Africa – these are the banks, airlines it’s paired with – My Comments

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Google Wallet, which allows Android users to make contactless payments and store digital passes on their phones, officially launched in South Africa on Tuesday.

To prevent fraud, users need to set up an authorisation check in the form of a fingerprint, face, or pin, to process a payment.

Google Wallet can currently be paired with six participating banks: FirstRand, Absa, Nedbank, Standard Bank, Discovery Bank, and Investec.

Four international airlines with regular services to and from South Africa have also partnered with Google Wallet on its launch.

Google Wallet, a redesigned digital wallet for Android devices that allows for contactless payments and can be used to store a host of other passes, officially launched in South Africa on Tuesday.

Google’s digital wallet platform has gone through many changes and brand names over the past decade, with the latest iteration of the payment-processing app announced in May. The new and improved Google Wallet is integrated with Google Pay, the tech giant’s mobile payments service that facilitates online and in-store contactless purchases.

Payment cards are added to Google Wallet, which can then be used to tap to pay anywhere Google Pay is accepted or with Near-field Communication (NFC) enabled devices. Using Google Wallet for contactless in-store payments and online purchases in South Africa is supported, according to the developer.

"The goal [of Google Wallet] is to provide fast and secure access to all of your everyday essentials," said Dong Min Kim, Google Wallet product manager, during a media briefing preceding the official launch in South Africa.

"In the future, at some point, you can hopefully leave your home, and you’ll be able to take all the things you had with you, that you would carry around in your pocket, keys, IDs, things like that, and store it all on your phone and access it seamlessly on the Android device."

With an emphasis on the user’s security and mitigating fraud, Google Wallet processes a payment token that must be authorised by a fingerprint, face, or pin.

"It is actually better and safer than carrying around your physical card with you," said Kim.

"We’re using industry-standard tokenisation, so the actual 15-digit number is being stored on your device. Another thing that’s important is to ensure that every time you use this tap and pay service, you do actually have to set up a device unlock… and if your phone is ever lost or stolen, you can simply use the ‘find my device function’ to instantly lock your device from anywhere."

In addition to storing and using payment cards with Google Wallet, the app also allows users to secure digital passes like loyalty cards, event tickets, and boarding passes.

In South Africa, Google Wallet has partnered, at launch, with six banks, namely, FirstRand, Absa, Nedbank, Standard Bank, Discovery Bank, and Investec.

"There will be more to come," added Kim, hinting at further partnerships between Google Wallet and South African service providers in the near future.

Google Wallet has also partnered with four international airlines that service South Africa, including United, KLM, Air France, and Singapore Airlines. This partnership allows for digital boarding passes and tickets to be stored within the Google Wallet and accepted by airlines.

Source: https://www.businessinsider.co.za/how-to-use-google-wallet-launched-in-south-africa-2022-8

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