Here’s two features you didn’t know you needed—Google Pay can now show your credit card benefits during checkout, and it will allow you to autofill payment details without entering a card’s security code.
When selecting a payment method in the Chrome desktop browser, Google Pay will show relevant benefits for each of your credit cards. A card might say “1.5% cash back on purchases” when shopping for shoes, or it might say “3% cash back on dining” when you order takeout. However, this functionality is currently limited to American Express and Capital One cards, it only works in the Chrome desktop browser, and some benefits (such as limited-time reward offers) won’t appear in the benefits overview. (And, if I didn’t make this clear, you need to use Google Pay.)
As always, Google Pay needs to verify your identity before autofilling payment details. But it now allows you to use a PIN, a fingerprint scan, or a face scan for verification. You’ll see the option to set this up the next time you autofill payment details on Android or in the Chrome browser, though you can continue verifying your identity with your cards’ security codes, if that’s what you prefer.
Sadly, Google Pay is also expanding its “Buy Now, Pay Later” (BNPL) feature to more websites. This feature taps into services like Affirm and Zip so you can finance purchases on websites that, under normal circumstances, do not offer direct BNPL integration. In my opinion, BNPL services are predatory and should not be built into a payment processing platform like Google Pay. Imagine if Google Pay asked customers to sign up for a credit card during checkout—this is the exact same thing but without a credit check, without super-strict regulation, and without the purchase protection or rewards features of an actual credit card. It’s gross.
While I’m not excited to see BNPL options built into Google Pay, the improved autofill system and the new credit card benefits overview are both fantastic. I can’t help but wonder why these features weren’t announced at the I/O 2024 keynote. This year’s I/O 2024 felt empty, as it focused solely on AI and offered very little substance for the average Google user (although Google Photos had a nice little moment at I/O).
Anyway, these new Google Pay features are available today. I should reiterate that the credit card benefits overview is currently limited to American Express and Capital One cards in the Chrome desktop browser. Google says that it will slowly add support for new cards, but it hasn’t mentioned a mobile rollout.
Source: Google
