Glossary
What is google wallet?
Google Wallet is the Android equivalent of Apple Wallet, storing payment methods, tickets and loyalty cards, and supporting the same kind of remotely updatable loyalty card.
Supporting both Apple Wallet and Google Wallet is essential rather than optional: a business that supports only one is invisible to roughly half its customers. A loyalty platform should detect the customer's device automatically from the link they tap, rather than asking them which phone they have.
How does Google Wallet differ from Apple Wallet for loyalty?
The capabilities are equivalent (both store a card, update it remotely and push to the lock screen), and the differences are in the plumbing rather than in what the customer experiences.
Google Wallet works against a card object stored on Google's side, which the business updates through an API; Apple Wallet holds the card on the device and fetches a new version when signalled. Google also allows slightly more layout freedom, while Apple enforces a stricter template.
Does Google Wallet need a Google account?
Yes. The phone must be signed in to a Google account for a card to save, which is true of essentially every Android phone in normal use but is the first thing to check when a card will not install.
The other common failure is a newer Huawei device shipped without Google Mobile Services, which cannot install Google Wallet cards at all. These are rare in most markets; a paper card remains the right fallback for that customer.
Should a business support both wallets?
Always. An enrolment link that offers only one wallet silently fails for roughly half of customers, and they will not report it: they will simply not have a card. A correctly built enrolment page detects the device and shows the right button automatically.
See also
- Wallet card: A wallet card is a digital card stored in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet (the same place people keep boarding passes, event tickets and payment cards) that can update itself remotely after it has been issued.
- Apple Wallet: Apple Wallet is the app pre-installed on every iPhone that stores payment cards, boarding passes, tickets and loyalty cards, and it can display and update loyalty cards without any additional app.
Further reading
How to add a loyalty card to Google Wallet
How customers add a loyalty card to Google Wallet on Android, what to do when the Add button does not work, and what a business needs in order to issue the cards.
How to add a loyalty card to Apple Wallet
A step-by-step guide for customers and business owners on getting a loyalty card into Apple Wallet, and what to do when the Add button does not appear.