Google Pay has been revamped to get closer to the digital wallets we are used to. Another focus of recent app updates involves greater user privacy, while the app is selling itself as a finance hub. It is interesting to see Google investing in major improvements to a service instead of discontinuing it, but not everything is good news in this new phase of Pay.
Anyone using the platform via an internet browser is being warned by a notification that from the beginning of 2021 it will no longer be possible to send or receive money through the web service (web app). Users will necessarily need the application, available for Android and iOS.
As you can see in the image below, a notification appears on the homepage of the G Pay website stating, “Starting early in 2021, you won’t be able to use pay.google.com to send and receive money from other people. To send and receive money, use the new Google Pay app.”
This move may have to do with the company’s new privacy policies. After all, it is still common for PCs to be shared much more often than smartphones. Eliminating the possibility of sending and receiving amounts on computers, Google Pay would always be available to make this type of transaction on platforms that use security as an unlock pattern, digital and facial biometrics (Face ID).
It should be noted that only the payment function will be unavailable and that from an undisclosed date. Google implies that the discontinuation of the function should happen in the first months of 2021.