Google Wallet will now let you add physical transit cards and balances with NFC

Google has released a new version of Google Play Services, bringing a useful new feature to Google Wallet alongside several developer-oriented features.

The latest version of Google Play Services (v26.35) adds a handy feature for frequent transit card users: you can now add your physical transit cards and balances to the Google Wallet app using NFC. This means you will soon be able to use your NFC-compatible Android phone to tap and access public transport without carrying a physical transit card.

It’s worth noting that this feature uses NFC, so you won’t be able to add transit cards to the Wallet app on phones without an NFC chip. The update also introduces a new “Add a card” success screen with an improved UI in the Wallet app.

Here’s the full changelog for Google Play Services v26.35:

• Account Management
  • [Phone, Wear] Improvements to Supervision.
  • [Phone] A new infrastructure within the Kids Auth Module to manage and display regulatory compliance notices on Android.
• Location and Context
  • [Phone] This update adds safety status information to shared locations in the location sharing API.
• Wallet
  • [Phone] You can now use NFC to add physical transit card passes and balances to Google Wallet.
  • [Phone] This update introduces a new “Add a card” success screen with an improved UI.

Google has also released a new version of the Google Play Store app (v53.1), with a couple of UI tweaks and quality-of-life improvements. Users will soon be able to see a short description highlighting key features for apps displayed in the “Similar Apps” section within the Play Store.

The Play Store is also getting a new navigation bar, letting users explore more of their interests directly on Play home pages. Plus, users will be able to see which of their devices already have an app installed when browsing recommendations.

Here’s the full changelog for Google Play Store v53.1:

• [Phone] You can now find a short description that highlights a key feature of similar apps in the similar apps section of the app details pages.
• [Phone] You can now see which devices an app is installed on when you browse recommendations in the other devices sub-navigation.
• [Phone] With a new navigation bar, you can explore more of your interests directly on Play home pages.

You can update your phone to the latest Google System Services by heading to Settings > Google Settings > All Services > Privacy and Security > System Services. You can also enable automatic updates to keep your phone up to date with the latest version of Google System Services.