You can no longer send and receive money via the original Google Pay app

In November, Google Pay added a fee for instant transfers and decided to kill peer-to-peer payments via its web app. Now, a new banner on its support site shows that you can no longer send or receive money with the original application. Users are invited to install the shiny, new Google Pay app via the Play Store.

As of June 1, 2021 you can’t claim any funds with the old Google Pay app. To send or receive money with friends and family, download the new Google Pay app.

Basically, if you’re a fan of the way things used to be, there’s nothing left that’s worth using where the traditional experience used to stand. It’s been stripped clean. It’s clear that Google has deep investments into its new approach to Pay, and there’s little to no reason not to shift over and give it a try at this point.

During Google’s I/O conference, I hopped into its I/O Adventure – the virtual showroom – and asked a Googler in the Pay building whether or not they intend to bring the service’s web application back from the dead once the transition is complete. After digging in a bit and asking a few more specific questions, I was told that they would take my feedback for this into advisement, but that they had no current plans to do so. I was told, however, to watch out for any future potential announcements regarding this, so while this is probably a canned response, there’s always a chance that having the ability to manage Pay Insights and make peer-to-peer payments via the browser may one day become a possibility.

I’ve been meaning to collect some feedback from you, our readers, regarding this. I don’t believe that I’m the only person who has an interest in seeing Google come full circle and offer Pay as a browser-based experience. With PWAs taking off like crazy, and even appearing in the Play Store, it makes sense for them to consider it on some level – even if the app is primarily used for NFC payments. I get that it wouldn’t make much sense to resurrect it for this purpose, but for everything else, it seems like a loss for them to avoid doing so. Let me know in the comments if you’re content with having Pay on your phones and nowhere else, or if you’d like to see it capable of being used elsewhere.