Thursday, January 30, 2014

Google Wallet App Update With Loyalty Card Scanning Coming Soon

Heads up, Google Wallet fans: the ability to add loyalty cards (store-specific savings clubs and the like) is coming to a Play Store update near you. Google Wallet's description was just updated on the web version of the Store, complete with the following phrase:

• Carry your loyalty programs in the app and leave the plastic cards behind

The functionality is pretty simple, and in fact it mirrors other apps that have been doing this for ages. Take a photo of the loyalty card with your phone's camera and Google Wallet will save a copy of the barcode and expiration date, freeing up a slot in your (real) wallet. For those who use Wallet's current Mastercard payment functionality, it's a nice way to consolidate their app drawer.

As usual with Google's first-party apps, the update itself seems to be on a staggered rollout, and we don't have a copy of the APK yet. We'll be sure to post it here for an easy sideload when we do.