[UPDATE 15/11/22 7:22pm]: A Hong Leong Bank representative has reached out to clarify that all payment cards issued by HLB and HLISB are supported by Google Pay. The article has been amended to reflect this new information.
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While Apple did beat them to the punch, Google Pay is now officially in Malaysia! You can head to the Google Play Store to download the Google Wallet to use it now. For now, the app supports cardholders of CIMB Bank (Mastercard), Hong Leong Bank and Hong Leong Islamic Bank (Visa and Mastercard credit and debit cards), as well as Public Bank (Visa credit and debit cards).
On top of the card support, Google Wallet will also be able to be used for online or in-app purchases on Airbnb, Al-Ikhsan Sports, Applecrumby, Eat Cake Today, and Shopee among others. Just look out for the Google Pay button and you will be able to pay for that.
Google has also announced that HSBC (Visa and Mastercard credit cards) and HSBC Amanah (Visa and Mastercard credit card) will be able to add their cards to Google Wallet in the coming months but there has been no specific date mentioned. For now, if you’re wondering what cards are supported, here’s a full list of supported cards.
Besides that, boarding passes from AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines (MAS) can also be added to the Google Wallet so you can get notifications on stuff like departure times and gate changes. For now, this feature is only supported on AirAsia, but will be added to MAS in the coming months.
For those who are unfamiliar, Google Wallet transactions are made using an alternate card number which is device specific. This token is also associated with a dynamic security code that changes with each transaction.
As of right now, there aren’t a whole lot of banks supported—a notable missing one for me is Maybank—but is the convenience of Google Pay with the Google Wallet enough to pull you away from competitors like Samsung Pay and Apple Pay? Let us know in the comments below.
