Google quietly removes features from Wallet ahead of Google I/O
Google I/O is right around the corner, when Google is expected to announce its new mobile payment system called Android Pay. In the meantime, Google has continued development on Google Wallet, although it’s been quietly removing features, as well. Two of these features are the ability to track shipments within the Google Wallet app, and the ability to send money to other people using a credit card.
The removal of the tracking feature is somewhat understandable – it didn’t quite make sense to me why Google Wallet should be giving me shipping notifications about purchases I made on other websites, that I didn’t use Google Wallet to pay for. Additionally, Google Now replicates much of this functionality, so many users were getting duplicate notifications.
The latter feature is a bit more puzzling, though. When users attempt to send someone else money using a credit card, an error message will pop up stating: “Unable to select funding source: Credit and prepaid cards can’t be used to send money.” Previously, users who did this would be assessed a 2.9% fee, probably to avoid credit card rewards scams. In any case, this might put some people who relied on this feature in a bind.
It will be interesting to see whether these features reappear at Google I/O in Android Pay, or whether they’re gone for good.
