New Google Pay App is Here!

Google scheduled a time today to announce a new Google Pay app, but the company has already posted the new app to Google Play, revealing a ton of details early. This is the new Google Pay app!

Looking at what’s new, the first thing you need to know is that this is a completely separate app from the Google Pay you have on all of your devices already. If you want to use the new Google Pay, you will have to install a new app. If you are cool with that, let’s talk about what you’ll get for doing so.

The new Google Pay is a “safe, simple, and helpful way to manage your money,” where you can pay for things, send and receive money, split bills and expenses, and earn rewards at a variety of places. It’s a brand new UI made up of Explore/Rewards, Pay, and Insights tabs.

To get the most out of it, Google is going to ask for a whole bunch of your info to tell you more, though. If you hook-up everything to the new Google Pay, including bank accounts, Google will talk to you about your financial health and spending habits (including a weekly summary). You’ll be able to view transactions, see money available and balances, and search for receipts.

In rewards, besides the deals and offers from retailers, Google will send you rewards (cash) for paying and/or referring friends to things. You can also get cash back (or more offers) when you redeem and activate offers from within Google Pay, plus you’ll find loyalty programs built-in.

Finally, remember the story about Google becoming a bank or at least using Stanford Federal Credit Union and Citigroup to offer a bank account experience within Google Pay? That’s happening here (in 2021). You can sign-up to get accounts from either of those that are a part of something Google is calling Plex, and below is a look at the physical card you’ll get. If you sign-up for these, they’ll be slotted into the “Insights” tab of the new Google Pay, where your financial profile shows.

Again, this is a new app, but the install brought over all of my payment accounts from the other Google Pay app. I also noticed a brief notification in the old app that told me to try the new one. Google is likely to make this a seamless transition over to the new experience.

Google Play Link