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Earlier this year, Google made some changes to its Wallet app, giving it a new name and the capability to store more of your cards than just your credit and loyalty cards. Later in the year, when the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro launched, its users caught a bug within that app that caused payment transactions to get declined when using face unlock as the authentication method. The issue was then multiplied when it was discovered that there wasn’t a way to get around this, as face unlock would be triggered before most people had a chance to use their fingerprint.
The exact issue could be replicated when launching Google Wallet using the shortcut on the lock screen or the tile located in Quick Settings, which would then display an overlay with all of your saved payment methods. This method would skip fingerprint authentication and cause issues when making payments due to Face Unlock being considered a Class 1 biometric. Class 1 biometrics are good enough to unlock your phone, but not secure enough to grant access to more secure tasks like accessing passwords or making contactless payments.
It now appears that Google is trying to remedy the situation by changing the behavior of these shortcuts with a Google Play Services update. According to 9to5Google, version 22.48.14 of the Google Play Services app applies a change that routes you to the full Google Wallet app, instead of the overlay panel. This change seems to only apply to the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro.
However, although believed that this new behavior is meant to address the Face Unlock security issue, there hasn’t been any direct acknowledgment on the part of Google or any proof that this will actually fix the issue. According to Android Police, in their testing, they have yet to see the Wallet app ask for additional, more secure authentication methods such as fingerprint or PIN after you have unlocked the Pixel 7 with Face Unlock. Hopefully, Google will address this in a coming update or in the QPR2 Beta that is currently being tested.
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