How to pay with your Android phone using Google Wallet

2 min read · 6 steps · Updated 2 October 2026

With Google Wallet the phone works like a contactless card. It works wherever contactless cards are accepted. Your bank must support Google Wallet in your country.

Step by step

1. Set a screen lock

   Google Wallet needs a PIN, pattern, password, fingerprint or face unlock on the phone.

   Done

2. Add a card

   Open the Google Wallet app, tap Add to Wallet and choose the payment card option. Scan the card or type the details, then confirm with the code your bank sends.

   Done

3. Switch on NFC

   Open Settings and search for NFC. Contactless payments only work with NFC switched on.

   Done

4. Make Google Wallet the default

   In the same NFC or contactless payments setting, choose Google Wallet as the default payment app.

   Done

5. Pay

   Wake and unlock the phone. Hold the back of the phone close to the reader for a few seconds. You do not need to open the app.

   Done

6. Wait for the blue tick

   A blue tick on the screen means the payment went through. The reader usually beeps as well.

   Done

Good to know

If no tick appears, hold the phone differently. The NFC antenna is in a different place on each model. Move closer and hold for longer.

Google Wallet pays with the card you have set as default. To use another card, open the app and bring that card to the front before you hold the phone to the reader.

If the phone is lost, lock it at once so nobody can pay with it: how to find a lost Android phone.

The phone must have current security updates. Google Wallet can refuse to pay on a phone that no longer meets its security requirements.

In short: Card in Google Wallet, NFC on, Wallet as default. Unlock and hold the back to the reader.