Google Wallet adding QR code card payments for NFC-less phones

Abner Li | Jun 27 2023 - 9:11 am PT

Google Wallet is expanding beyond NFC with support for credit or debit card payments through QR codes in Brazil.

Google is making it so that Android devices will be “capable of making digital payments with credit and debit cards by using their camera to scan dynamic codes in payment machines.”

In a GIF shared today, the payment terminal displays a QR code that you scan with the Google Wallet app. Details of the transaction, including the price, then appear with the ability to pick a different card. Tapping “pay now” brings up a fingerprint prompt, with the last step being confirmation details.

This is aimed at countries like Brazil, where a “significant portion of smartphones do not have NFC” for contactless payments. The company is aiming to “bring the safety and ease of Google Wallet’s digital payments to more people.”

This feature was announced at the fifth Google for Brazil event, wherein the company also opened a second office in São Paul that will be the “primary location for the Google Cloud team and for our growing engineering footprint.”

Other product launches include the ability to enable real-time riverine flood alerts on Android: “This is an update of the Flood Forecasting tool that we launched last year, which uses AI and data from the Geological Service of Brazil (SGB) to warn communities of floods in their area.”

In Google Maps, Indoor Live View is coming to Guarulhos Airport, the “busiest flight transportation hub in Latin America.” Meanwhile, Immersive View is now available for landmarks in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasília, and Fortaleza.