Kids won’t be leaving the house with an empty wallet anymore. Google has launched a new feature for Google Wallet that will allow children to use Tap to Pay on their Android phone with their parents’ permission.
The company announced the update in a blog post on Wednesday, saying kids will be able to download Google Wallet to their phones and parents will be able to control their kids’ access to the payment app and Tap to Pay via Family Link. The kid-friendly Tap to Pay feature works similarly to Apple Pay in that kids need to get their parents’ consent in-person to add debit and/or credit cards to their Google Wallet. They can use Tap to Pay in stores but won’t be allowed to use Google Pay to make online purchases until they’re old enough to manage their Google Account on their own.
Meanwhile, parents will get emails every time their child makes a purchase using Tap to Pay. They will also be able to track recent purchases, remove payment cards, and turn off access to Google Wallet through Family Link if the need arises.
Google Wallet will also support the addition of other cards and event passes kids add to it. These include like library cards, gift cards, and even concert tickets.
Google adding Tap to Pay support for kids with Android phones comes seven months after the company added the same feature to the Fitbit Ace LTE, the only Fitbit watch designed specifically for young children. That feature gave kids who didn’t have a phone on them, let alone an Android phone, the freedom to buy things on their own using debit cards provided by Greenlight and GoHenry while parents supervise them and teach them the value of money. Google Wallet on Android aims to give older kids who do have a phone in their possession the same experience.
Google Wallet’s tap-to-pay feature for kids will be rolling out over the next few weeks in the US, UK, Australia, Poland, and Spain.
