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Google has combined its in-store, online and person-to-person payment apps into a single offering called Google Pay. This app handles all your transactions instead of forcing you to use Google Pay Send for paying people and Android Pay for NFC.
The app works on iOS as well as Android and the web, so it has broader appeal than Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. Google Pay offers NFC payment in many locations and smart watch support, just like services from Apple and Samsung. Venmo, PayPal, Square Cash and Zelle do not.
The only question you need to ask is: “Do I mind connecting another part of my life to Google?” If the answer is no, you will be well served by this easy-to-use, complete payment app.
I installed Google Pay on an Apple iPhone X and a Google Pixel 4 XL. If you already have Android Pay installed, Google Pay will only appear on your phone. When you open Google Pay for the first time, the Android Pay app disappears. If none of these apply to you, you can still download the app from the Play Store or Apple App Store.
When setting up Google Pay, you can choose to make it the only NFC payment app on your Android phone. So if you use PayPal, Venmo, or Samsung Pay, these apps will no longer work at points of sale. As you might expect, Apple doesn't allow third-party apps to access NFC payments, so on this platform your only option is Apple Pay.
If you have already entered a card in Android Pay, it continues without further action in Google Pay. But if you've already entered payment information for Google Payments, the Play Store, or other Google services, it doesn't carry over to Google Pay. Like most payment apps, Google Pay lets you use your phone's camera to take a photo of your card to make it easier to enter your payment source information. A surprise in this round of testing: you can use PayPal as a funding source for your Google Pay account!
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As with all mobile payment apps, you need to enter a bank debit card to receive payments, but you can also enter credit cards to make payments. Payments are fee-free, because Google Pay doesn't allow you to pay acquaintances with a credit card – you need to have a debit card or bank account associated with your account. Other services like Venmo allow you to use a credit card but charge a three percent fee to do so. Please note that paying with a credit card gives you liability protections, while paying with your bank account leaves the resolution of any disputes to the terminal's financial institutions.
Unlike Apple Pay, Google Pay only works if your phone is unlocked, but you can also set it to require biometric verification, like you can with Apple Pay, PayPal, and Samsung Pay. With Google Pay, you unlock your phone and take it to the point of sale, and your payment is processed without any additional action (unless it's a large purchase that requires a signature). With Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, you don't need to unlock your phone, but for payment to go through, you must use a biometric login or PIN to complete the transaction.
My experience with Google Pay at a local grocery store was smooth as silk. As the help says, “just unlock your phone and hold it to the terminal until you see a check mark. You don’t even need to open the app.” It was easier than paying with Apple Pay on a recent iPhone, which requires holding the phone close to your face and double-clicking the side button — something that requires more dexterity than the simple Google Pay process.
