Google Wallet to Streamline Transit Payments with New ‘Express Transit Card’ Feature
Google Wallet is poised to offer faster and more convenient transit payments with a new feature, dubbed “Express Transit Card,” that will allow users to bypass phone unlocking and card selection for quicker commutes.
The upcoming functionality, discovered through an analysis of the Google Wallet app version 25.43.826060251, will enable users to designate a specific credit or debit card for transit payments, functioning similarly to existing features in Samsung Wallet and Apple Pay. Currently, Google Wallet requires users to unlock their phones and select a payment method each time they use it for public transportation. This update aims to address that friction, allowing a simple tap of the phone to complete the transaction.
This development comes as Google continues to enhance Wallet’s capabilities to attract users from competing mobile payment platforms. The “Express Transit Card” will be configurable within the Google Wallet settings, allowing users to choose their preferred transit card. The ability to quickly and easily pay for transit is a key factor in encouraging wider adoption of mobile wallets.
While an official rollout date has not been announced, Google is currently in the development phase of the feature and is expected to release it to general users in the coming months. The company has not yet commented on the specific timeline for the update.
Google Wallet has gotten a lot better since it launched, and it can now replace many of the other apps on your phone. However, many users still can’t make the switch from rivals like Samsung Pay and Apple Pay because Google Wallet lacks certain features.
While everyone has a unique list of features they rely on daily, the Mountain View tech giant is hard at work to give users fewer excuses to make the switch to Google Wallet by continuing to fix issues that are unique to its digital wallet app. Currently, one of the new features the company is working on will make transport payments a lot faster.
How is Google planning to make transport payments faster?
Android Authority conducted an APK teardown of the Google Wallet app, version 25.43.826060251, and found a new feature called “Express Transit Card.” Folks over at the publication also managed to enable it on their phones, giving us a solid idea about how the feature will work.
The new “Express Transit Card” capability will work very similarly to how Samsung Wallet’s Transit card works. It’ll let you select a specific credit or debit card to pay for transit with your phone. This will be separate from your default tap-to-pay card that you use for regular purchases. In addition to Samsung Wallet, Apple Pay users can already make transport payments the same way.
The biggest benefit of selecting a card as your Express Transit Card is that you don’t need to unlock your phone using a PIN or biometric verification to complete the payment on a transit terminal. A simple tap on your phone will be enough to pay for the transit.
Google Wallet supports transit payments, but it isn’t as seamless as it is on apps like Samsung Wallet. As things stand right now, if you have multiple payment cards in your Google Wallet, you need to select the right one and use tap to pay each time you want to pay for transit. Of course, for all of this work, you’ll first need to unlock your phone.
Google Wallet’s upcoming “Express Transit Card” functionality wants to fix these issues and make transit payments more seamless on Google Wallet. However, the new transport payment feature is currently in the development phase, so it isn’t available for general users.
There are no official words as to when the company will roll out this feature, but when it does, you’ll be able to choose a specific credit or debit card as your transit card from Google Wallet’s Settings.
