Google Wallet now makes adding new cards as effortless as it always should have been

Despite its far-reaching applications, such as storing access passes and tickets for events and your travels, Google Wallet’s identity is incomplete without payments. Google lets you add your credit and debit cards, which can be used for quick contactless payments, but the process to add them takes a few steps. Thankfully, that is being fixed now with the latest update.

Google Wallet is simplifying the mechanism for adding new debit or credit cards to your collection. Although the process previously required you to either enter the details manually or capture an image of the digits, cards that support contactless payments can now be added instantly by tapping on the area around the NFC reader on your phone.

This feature has been in trial since at least April this year, when we first spotted the option to add new cards to Google Wallet via NFC. The update comes with the latest Google Play services update from earlier this week, which also added support for Android 16’s Live Updates for flights and events.

In addition to adding new cards using NFC, Google is also testing its new Material 3 Expressive design language in the Google Wallet app on Android. With this addition, we see a subtle tint on the background, along with more noticeable text on the button for adding details manually. This change was spotted being tested in version 25.41.817018206 of the Wallet app.

While we couldn’t take screenshots in the app due to security-related restrictions, here is a comparison between the existing interface and the new one being tested.

Alongside the option to add cards more quickly, Google Wallet recently added support for storing your Play Points as well as a system that automatically pulls up relevant tickets or passes when you’re closer to the destination.