Google Wallet can now save a paper receipt from a photo. The option is easy to miss, because it sits under Everything else in the Wallet app’s add menu. Here is how to use it and what it stores.
Google added receipt scanning in Google Play services v26.40, and it is rolling out gradually. If you do not see it yet, update Google Play services and check again later.
Google’s release notes for v26.40 announce it in a single line:
With the new update to Wallet, you can now scan to add receipts.
How to scan a receipt into Google Wallet
These steps follow Android Authority’s hands-on. We have not tested them ourselves.
- Open Google Wallet.
- Tap the plus (+) icon.
- Choose Everything else to open the scanner.
- Scan the receipt with your camera, or pick a photo from your gallery. Keep the whole receipt in the frame.
- Tap Next and review the details Wallet pulled out.
- Tap Add to save it, or Discard to drop it.
Android Authority notes the receipt scanner is part of Wallet’s general scanning tool. That means it can sometimes misread a receipt as a pass, so check the result before you tap Add.
What Google Wallet saves from a receipt
According to Android Authority, a scanned receipt becomes a record with these details:
- Total: the amount you paid.
- Time of purchase: when the transaction happened.
- Items: what you bought, line by line.
- Tax and discounts: any tax charged and savings applied.
- Receipt image: Google keeps a copy of the photo, linked to the transaction.
You can then search your receipts by store name or by item.
That stored image is worth a thought. A receipt shows what you bought, where and when, and Google keeps a copy tied to the transaction. The v26.40 note does not say how long the images are kept, so be selective about which receipts you scan.
Do not throw the paper copy away yet, either. Android Authority says you may still need the original receipt for returns or warranty claims.
Other Google Wallet changes in v26.40
The same release notes list two smaller Wallet changes:
- Faster Chrome checkout: Google Pay in Chrome for Android can skip the Payment Request interface when you provide your name, email and phone number to merchants.
- Clearer alerts: merchant names in Wallet transaction alerts are improved.
Google’s note lists no countries or devices for receipt scanning, as BGR also pointed out. The same Play services release also pulled Find Hub from Googlebook. If you use Wallet with Gemini, see what connecting Google Wallet to Gemini shares.
Sources: Google system services release notes, Android Authority, BGR
