Arthur Fuentes

Google Pay on an Android phone. Arthur Fuentes, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Google Pay

Jekki Pascual

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17634391194852025111804118_5d8c2592936ca0239f25f72c9be09a89f47885b3add919be527195f3f92ecfa3.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Google Pay on an Android phone. Arthur Fuentes, ABS-CBN News </div><div> </div>MANILA –  Google Wallet and Google Pay are finally available in the Philippines. The tech giant formally launched the service on Tuesday, along with partner banks, fintechs and global payments firms Visa and Mastercard.  Google said cardholders of participating banks will now be able to add their cards to Google Wallet and pay with their Android phones or Wear OS devices wherever contactless payments are accepted.“Payment cards from Google Wallet can be used to pay online or in-app at merchants such as Shopee, wherever you see the Google Pay button,” the company said.The Google Wallet app can be downloaded from Google Play and installed on Android smartphones with NFC chips, which enable contactless payments. Most midrange phones and all flagship phones already have an NFC chip.During the Singapore Fintech Festival held last week, a Google official clarified that Google Wallet is not an e-wallet like GCash or Maya, but a digital container on Android that keeps all the credentials typically kept in a physical wallet, like payment cards, loyalty passes, and more.“When a consumer taps to pay in a store or make a purchase online, the actual payment is enabled by Google Pay. Essentially, the payment cards sit in the Google Wallet, and the transaction is carried out by Google Pay,” Google said.The service promises to make payments even more convenient. But aside from storing and accessing payment cards, travellers can add boarding passes from Philippine Airlines and others to Google Wallet.“With boarding passes in Google Wallet, travelers will be notified of changes to departure time and gate changes to ensure a hassle-free experience at the airport. Furthermore, they will be able to tap and pay securely using Google Wallet during their overseas travel, without the need for their physical card, wherever contactless payments are accepted,” the company said.Concert tickets, cinema tickets, loyalty cards, digital vouchers, and even digital car keys can also be stored on Google Wallet..Google gave the following list of partners who are already available on Google Wallet and Google Pay:<ul style="list-style-type:disc"><li>VISA and Mastercard Cardholders of  ChinaBank, East West bank, RCBC Bank, Zed will be able to add their cards to Google Wallet.</li><li>VISA cardholders of GoTyme, Maya, UnionBank, Wise will be able to add their cards to Google Wallet.</li><li>Mastercard card holders of GCash and Zed will be able to add their cards to Google Wallet.</li><li>Travellers can add many types of information to Google Wallet: including boarding passes from Philippines Airlines, and AirAsia, Cathay Pacific, Jetstar, Malaysia Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Scoot, Thai Airways; flight bookings from Trip.com; event tickets booked through Ticket2me and Ticketnet; IKEA loyalty cards and Mang Inasal vouchers.</li><li>For transit, Google Wallet can be used to Tap and Pay at MRT-3 in Manila and on modern jeepneys in Cebu and Mandaue City as well as wherever VISA/Master cards are accepted  and bus tickets purchased through Easybook. Tickets purchased through the Beep App to travel on buses and trains in Manila is coming soon, </li><li>Checkout with Google Pay when making online purchases on Shopee, Sephora (coming soon) and with merchants supported by Payment Service Providers such PesoPay, Payermax and coming soon with 2c2p, Payermax, Paymongo and Maya</li><li>Digital Car Keys - refer to (https://www.android.com/digital-car-key/#digital-compatibility) for details on supported car models and Android devices. </li></ul><div> </div>“This launch underscores our enduring commitment to accelerating financial inclusion and fueling the next chapter of the Philippines’ dynamic digital economy,” said Prep Palacios, Country Manager, Google Philippines.<div>APPLE PAY NEXT?</div>The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) wants to expand the use of ‘tap to pay’ services in the Philippines. DICT Secretary Henry Aguda welcomed the launch of Google Pay in the Philippines and said the launch is timely as the country is set to host the ASEAN Summit next year. He said the Philippines will push for digitalization and what better way to show this than for foreign delegates to experience digital payments in the country.Aguda also wants to expand this service further. The new feature can be used, for example, in MRT 3, but this will also be available soon in other rail lines like the LRT 1 and 2.“We will push for the mass adoption of tap to pay,” Aguda said.Fintech Alliance Founding Chairman Lito Villanueva revealed that Apple Pay will also launch, possibly early next year.Fintech Alliance organized the Google Pay and Google Wallet launch event with VISA. And the group assures the public that using tap to pay is safe and secure due to the tokenization technology— where each time a VISA debit or credit card is added to Google Pay, the card number is replaced with a unique digital token and the cardholder&#x27;s private information is never shared with the merchant or any group.“This is something that would really change the financial landscape, especially in having to address the high incidents of cyber fraud,” Villanueva said.The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas also welcomed the arrival of tap to pay and hopes this can convert more Filipinos to use digital payments.“It can contribute a lot towards advancing digital payments experience and hopefully convert more non-users or light users to using digital,” said BSP Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan.

Google said that starting today, cardholders of participating banks will be able to add their cards to Google Wallet and pay with their Android phones or Wear OS devices.

Google said that starting today, cardholders of participating banks will be able to add their cards to Google Wallet and pay with their Android phones or Wear OS devices.

Smartphone ‘tap to pay’ comes to PH with arrival of Google Wallet, Google Pay

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Smartphone ‘tap to pay’ comes to PH with arrival of Google Wallet, Google Pay

Arthur Fuentes,

Jekki Pascual,

ABS-CBN News

Published November 18, 2025 12:12 PM PHT

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Updated November 19, 2025 12:42 AM PHT

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