Google Pay direct checkout is making it easier to buy from websites (Update: Explained)

Google has long let users pay online via Google Pay, giving you a quick and secure way to make purchases in your browser. Now, the company has announced another convenient addition to this process.

Google announced Google Pay direct checkout functionality today, and the company says this will bring your payment options from Google Wallet directly to a retailer’s checkout page. Check out the GIF below.

In other words, you can quickly choose the correct card or payment method stored in Google Wallet when you check out a purchase on a retailer’s website. Technically speaking, Google Pay on mobile already shows a pop-up menu on some websites, allowing you to make the payment and choose a card. However, Google’s GIF (seen above) suggests that Google Pay direct checkout embeds your payment options and other info on the website itself.

The company indeed confirmed to Android Authority that this is the big difference between the current and new experiences:

Google Pay direct checkout provides a card-on-file embedded experience directly into the merchant’s checkout page.

For a shopper, Google Pay direct checkout acts much like the Google Pay button does today.

For retailers, it offers a one click experience but removes the burden (of) needing to build and scale a complex solution.

“It’s available today for select merchants that use Airwallex and will soon be available to those that use Adyen,” Google explained in its announcement. “We plan to scale this capability with partners worldwide.”