Google Wallet is making it easier to save passes, IDs and more

Google is adding new ways to digitize your various passes, cards and IDs and save them in your Google Wallet.

Perhaps the most interesting new feature is the ability to save passes to Wallet from an image. Take a photo of a card, such as a gym membership card, parking pass, or any other pass that has a barcode or a QR code, and Google Wallet will be able to create and store a digital version of that card. Google says this functionality is coming "soon."

You can now also save Humana health insurance cards to Google Wallet, and in the U.K., users will be able to use their HMRC app to save their National Insurance Number to Wallet.

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Google says it will now identify these sorts of passes, which contain sensitive information, as "private passes" in your wallet to make it easier to identify them. Adding, using, or viewing them will also require additional verification, such as a PIN or fingerprint scan.

Private Passes are protected with a fingerprint scan or PIN. Credit: Google

Other new features include the ability to add Maryland IDs or driver's licenses to Wallet, and later this year Google will start introducing corporate badges in Google Wallet as well. Another feature that's coming soon is the ability to complete your travel check-in process in the Messages app, receive a boarding pass or train ticket there, and save it to Wallet. Google will first roll this out with Vietnam Airlines and Spain's train operator Renfe.

You'll soon be able to add passes to Wallet directly from Messages. Credit: Google

"From adding driver’s licenses to saving passes directly from Messages and securely storing private passes such as health insurance cards, Google Wallet is centralizing tools that help consumers move seamlessly through an increasingly digital world,” Dong Min Kim, Director of Product Management for Google Wallet, said in a statement.

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The timeline on when, exactly, all of this is coming is a little fuzzy, with Google either saying "soon" or "later this year" for most of this items. Additionally, Google says it will launch Google Wallet in more countries "in the next few weeks."