The news: Google enabled Express checkout with Google Pay for Android native apps, per a blog post.

Developers can use stored credentials like payment and address information to speed up checkout. Apps will also be able to dynamically update shipping options, taxes, and total prices and shift Google Pay’s buy button earlier in the checkout funnel.

How we got here: Google needs to raise its wallet and buy button’s prominence. We forecast that Google Wallet users will reach 55.1 million and account for $441.18 billion in payment value this year. Apple Wallet dwarfs its offerings: We anticipate that it will have 90.5 million users and service $1.086 trillion in payment volume.

Google has tried to juice its payment volume with buy now, pay later (BNPL) integrations and rewards features. 

Why this matters: Features that boost Google Pay’s visibility and streamline checkout can increase conversion rates for retailers—securing more payment volume for Google. 

This could help the tech giant continue its user growth streak: While Apple Pay nearly doubled its share of users from 2023 to 2025, Google Pay surged 328% over the same period, per a PYMNTS Intelligence report. 

Neither wallet, however, comes even close to a majority share of total consumers: 16% said they’d used Apple Pay in 2025, versus 8.9% for Google Pay. 

Zoom out: Apple benefits from a strong ecosystem—roughly 60% of consumers use iPhones and 85% of merchants accept Apple Pay, per PYMNTS Intelligence. 

As Google Pay, PayPal, and Cash App incentivize acceptance with merchants and top-of-wallet status with consumers, Apple’s dominance is likely to remain, and other wallets will compete with the remaining share of consumers linked to Android devices.

Implications for digital wallets: US consumers are slowly embracing digital wallets—and they’re hungry for ability to link offers to their wallets. Three in 4 consumers would interact more with brands that offer digital wallet options for their coupons and offers, per a November 2025 Vibes survey. 

Digital wallets that want to grow their user share should use rewards as incentives to develop lasting consumer behaviors that start at the beginning of the shopping journey.