Google Wallet for Wear OS now shows loyalty cards

Abner Li | Dec 12 2023 - 3:20 pm PT

The Google Wallet app on Wear OS has been updated with the ability to access your loyalty cards.

Previously, Google Wallet on Wear OS was just for tap-to-pay with credit/debit cards, while transit support was initially limited to Clipper (BART) in San Francisco and SmarTrip in Washington, D.C.

Now, all the loyalty cards stored on your phone or Google Account will automatically appear in Wallet for Wear OS. They show up after payment methods, with a rectangular preview that’s pretty generic in most cases.

To update the order of your passes, change the order on your phone.

Tapping one shows the QR or barcode against a white background with screen brightness turned all the way up. You can scroll down to see more details, including the actual number.

Shortcuts let you “Open on phone” – which Google says is for when the reader cannot scan your watch – or “Delete pass,” with Wallet noting which ones were “Added from Gmail.”

COVID cards, health insurance cards, and other private passes “can only be used with Google Wallet on your phone” and will not appear on your watch. Meanwhile, the company notes, “Expired passes in the Google Wallet mobile app don’t appear on your smartwatch.”

This is rolling out with Wear OS 3.5+, and we’re seeing it with the on-watch update to version 23.46.x a few days ago.

In related news, in the past week, Google widely rolled out the ability to “Create a pass using a photo with a barcode or QR code” option in the “Add to Wallet” menu.