I can't stand Google Play. When I try to analyze its properties, I get the strong impression that Google specifically made it so that it turned out to be as different as possible from Apple Pay. The result was not just a contradictory product, but one continuous contradiction, working under the motto “to spite my grandmother, I will frostbite my ears.” Not only does Google Pay do not require fingerprint confirmation for the first three purchases, which can still be somehow tied to convenience, but it also does not allow you to select a card immediately before paying, forcing you to blush in the queue if your default is not that 'plastic'. But it seems that Google has gradually begun to understand that this is not the case.
Google Pay is less convenient than Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, but in Android 11 the situation will change for the better
In fact, the ability to select a payment card on the lock screen in both Apple Pay and Samsung Pay should have appeared a year ago, in Android 10. However, with the release of the update, everything remains the same , and after some time Google completely removed the mention of this function from its website, obviously, considering it not ready for launch. Nevertheless, the company did not abandon the idea of making Google Play better, and therefore again added a hot change of payment cards on the lock screen in Android 11.
How to change your card in Google Pay
The choice of Google Pay payment cards will be available on the lock screen
In the first beta version Android 11, which is already available for download for owners of all Pixel smartphones, starting from the second generation, the choice of payment cards on the lock screen does not work yet. Despite this, the system already has several mechanisms, such as QuickAccessWalletService, that will allow doing this in the future, as well as an animation depicting a call to the Google Play widget for quick access to linked payment instruments. All you need to do is to double-press the power key and bring up the corresponding interface, and then select the desired card.
In addition to the possibility of hot swapping of payment cards, the Google Pay interface on the lock screen will also allow you to choose discount cards, tickets, boarding passes and passes. That is, in fact, Google plans to turn the service into a contactless tool that can be useful in a fairly wide range of use cases from paying for fares on public transport and shopping in offline stores to confirming your identity as a member of the loyalty program and access to theaters, cinemas and others. establishments where the entrance is carried out with tickets or passes.
How to replace Google Pay
However, Google decided not to stop there, but to open access to the interface for third-party services as well. That is, if the user prefers to pay for purchases not using Google Pay, but using competing tools, he will be able to just as quickly select bank cards, tickets and other documents and means of payment. True, this requires the immediate desire of independent developers who will have to adapt their services to the new interface. But, given the convenience of the innovation, you probably won't have to wait long for optimization. In any case, if Google does not abandon it again and does not freeze the project indefinitely.
If Google really does it, Google Pay could become a very real competitor to Apple Pay, which, unfortunately, is not now. If you ask me which payment service I prefer, I would definitely choose the solution Apple or Samsung. Oddly enough, this is not a matter of fanboy, but exclusively of a convenient implementation, which these companies have succeeded better than the search giant. After all, choosing a card before paying is so logical and natural. But for some reason, it took Google almost 4 years to finally realize this.