Alphabet (GOOGL) Boosts Google Wallet App With New Feature
Alphabet’s GOOGL is leaving no stone unturned to capitalize on growth opportunities present in the global digital wallet market on the back of new Google Wallet features. Per The Business Research Company report, the digital wallet market is expected to hit $47.7 billion in 2024 and reach $97.54 billion by 2033, witnessing a CAGR of 19.6% between 2024 and 2033.
In this regard, the company recently unveiled a new “Automatically add linked passes” feature to Google Wallet.
This new feature is an addition to the "Passes" sub-section in Google Wallet settings on Android. It allows providers to automatically add event tickets, promotions and offers to existing passes.
Further, the Auto Linked Passes feature also allows providers to send additional passes to users with existing passes in their Google Wallet and pre-link passes to primary passes.
Alphabet is expected to gain solid traction across Android users on the back of its latest move.
Alphabet Inc. Price and Consensus
Alphabet Inc. price-consensus-chart | Alphabet Inc. Quote
Google Wallet in Focus
Apart from the Auto Linked Passes feature, Google recently added a new “Verification settings” feature in Google Wallet for Android, enabling users to choose whether to verify their identity when using payment methods and passes.
This new feature leads to a "Transit payments" option that enables user identity verification before paying with a credit or debit card.
Alphabet also announced Google Wallet updates to support open-loop payment systems, providing a dedicated page for recent activity and ride history, showing saved fare caps, connected payment methods and network-specific offerings.
Additionally, the company announced an update to its Wallet app for Wear OS, enabling users to access their loyalty cards.
With the addition of the latest update, Google Wallet on Wear OS now supports all loyalty cards stored on phones or Google Accounts, appearing after payment methods. The users can tap on a QR or barcode to view details, scroll down for more information and use shortcuts like “Open on phone” or “Delete pass” on their smartwatches.
All the above-mentioned endeavors will further bolster its Android offerings. This, in turn, will boost its Google Services segment, which remains the key growth catalyst for the company. Its shares have gained 43.3% in the past year, compared with the Zacks Computer & Technology sector’s growth of 43.1%.
The strengthening Google Services segment is expected to aid its overall financial performance in the near term.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 total revenues stands at $290.4 billion, indicating year-over-year growth of 13.2%.
Stiff Competition
Growing Google Wallet efforts will aid Alphabet to compete well with the likes of Microsoft MSFT and Apple AAPL, which are also making strong efforts to boost their presence in the booming digital wallet space.
Microsoft’s addition of a cryptocurrency wallet to its Edge Wallet remains noteworthy. This feature provides real-time updates on cryptocurrency value fluctuations and logging transactions for effective monitoring.
Further, the Microsoft Wallet app securely saves card numbers with expiry dates and CVV codes, ensuring the protection of payment information for shopping or payment gateways.
Apple, on the other hand, is enjoying the growing momentum of Apple Wallet with the addition of new features.
Notably, Apple Pay orders can now be attached to receipts as PDF or image files, allowing customers to track payment in the Wallet app and to confirmation emails.
Zacks Rank & A Stock to Consider
Currently, Alphabet carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
A better-ranked stock in the broader technology sector is AMETEK AME, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Shares of AMETEK have increased 3% in the past year. The long-term earnings growth rate for AME is 9.19%.
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