A hidden setting in Google Wallet would let you choose to verify again right before each contactless payment. Android Authority’s AssembleDebug found the option, labelled Tap to pay, in Wallet version 26.43.1009867093 and enabled it manually. It is not live for users. As of November 2, we found no Google announcement of it.
This is not a way to pay from a locked phone. Your phone would still need to be unlocked either way. The new option would add a stricter, optional check on top.
How Google Wallet verification works today
The current rules come from Google’s Wallet help page. You need a screen lock set up on your phone to pay with Google Wallet at all. You verify with a Class 3 biometric unlock, or with your PIN, pattern or password. Class 1 and Class 2 biometrics, Smart Unlock and Knock to Unlock don’t count.
Wallet doesn’t ask every time. If you verified in the past few minutes, Google says, you may not need to verify again for another purchase. Android Authority describes this as a three-minute window. Once it times out, your next payment needs a fresh check.
The transit exception
Transit is the one case where Google officially lets Wallet work without unlocking your phone. You can turn it on under Verification settings > Transit payments by switching off Verification required. It applies to transit fares only. Every other payment still needs screen lock verification.
What the hidden Tap to pay setting says
The new option sits in Wallet’s verification settings. Its description text, as found by Android Authority, reads:
All transactions require that your device be unlocked but you can choose to verify again right before you tap to pay.
So this is an opt-in for a stricter check, not a convenience shortcut. If it ships in this form, cautious users would get more say over when a payment goes through.
Android Authority first spotted the option a few days earlier, when it crashed on opening. In version 26.43 it opens and shows the explanatory text above.
What’s still unclear
The main unknown is how the setting works alongside the existing verification window. Android Authority outlines two possibilities but says it can’t confirm either. With the setting on, you might have to verify before every payment, even inside the window. With it off, later payments might skip re-verification even after the window ends.
Features found in app code can change before release or never ship at all. Until Google rolls this out, the few-minutes window and the transit exception are the rules that apply. If tap to pay isn’t working for you at all, see our report on Pixel owners whose Google Wallet payments are failing.
Source: Android Authority, Google Wallet Help
