Google Wallet can now digitize your passes and IDs

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Google Wallet can now create clean digital replicas of physical passes and ID cards. Not another cropped photo with clumsy PDF, QR code with makeshift labels or typed texts – these are actual digital cards here with adequate branding and clear fonts. Like all of your other digital cards, they are portable, and your information can be synchronized from one device to another.

Google Wallet for instance began offering the use of digital cards through an app some years back. But a transport company or an insurance company or the gym, which you visit, was probably forced to send you a digital card through an application or your email – it is somewhat an ungraceful and a somewhat clumsy process. This functionality was kind of improved when Wallet introduced a “Photo passes” feature in 2023. However, photo scanning was available only for barcodes and QR codes.

Now, thanks to the possibility of adding ‘extras’, Google Wallet allows you to transform any number of plastic cards, ID(s), passes, tickets, business cards, passport(s), permits and more into real Wallets. It’s as simple as starting the Google Wallet application, pressing on the ‘Add to Wallet’ button at the corner of the home screen, selecting ‘Everything else’ and you are ready to go. If you want to transition from using physical cards or passes, chances are that you have already taken photos of them, in this case, you can simply upload the images into Google Wallet instead of a scan.

For me, this is quite a blessing as I do not need to go in search of hot water jerking hot water handles to get hot water. Most of the cards and passes that I use frequently are available in digital form from the issuing card company, but I hate the conventional method of adding digital cards to Wallet. Now, it means that there’s no need to search my digital inbox or various applications to find the cards I need to import but look for the physical ones I have at the moment.

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But, what you should be aware of is automatic card scanning where through what is referred to as “AI”, the contents of a given physical card are scanned and a perfect replica is created digitally. It is possible to enter the card information manually and that is good, still, the AI use makes me wonder how the card information is entered – on the device or the cloud? That information cannot be found on Google’s Support page. This may be splitting hairs though because most of the Wallet items, apart from insurance cards or other items like ‘Sensitive stuff’, should be connected to the Google account.

The new Google Wallet scanning functionality is now gradually being released to users of Android in the United States. Products will take a few days or weeks to arrive on your device.

Source: Google via 9to5Google