At the end of last year, Google launched a revamped Google Pay experience in the US, based on what was once the Tez app in India. Google is now warning that, as of April, the older Google Pay apps on Android, iOS, and web will no longer be able to send and receive money.
The move from the previous Google Pay app to the newer experience has been something of a confusing migration, with Android and iOS users being encouraged to install a separate, Flutter-based app and transfer their money to the new app to gain access to rewards and more. At the same time, Google had announced that they would be shutting down the web app’s ability to send and receive money.
This afternoon, Google has sent out a notice to those who have used the older Google Pay app, informing that the older Android, iOS, and web apps would cease to work for sending, receiving, and transferring money, as of April 5. Any balance still in your Google Pay account at that time will need to be accessed with the updated app or transferred to your bank account manually by Google Support.
Similarly, the old Google Pay apps will no longer be able to show your recent activity and transactions. While this may sound like the original Android Google Pay app will be effectively dead, it notably should still function for access to your digital wallet, including your credit/debit cards, membership cards, and transit passes. Even if you use the new Google Pay experience, the older app’s wallet access on Android is still useful as the new Google Pay can only be used on one device at a time.
The timing of this migration is particularly interesting as the upgraded Google Pay app is still currently listed as “Early Access” in the Play Store. It’s unknown whether the app will be upgraded out of Early Access before the April deadline arrives or how these changes will affect areas where the new Google Pay is not available, if at all.
Along with the migration to the new Google Pay app, April 5 also marks the date that Google Pay’s new Terms of Service take effect. While most of the changes are relatively uninteresting, it should be noted that — at least in the US — the minimum age for having a Google Pay account is changing from 16 to 18.
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