Google Wallet adds unlimited ID and card tracking with ‘everything else’

Google has been enhancing its NFC Wallet app over the past few years, adding support for various types of cards and IDs. Today, it has expanded its capabilities by allowing users to scan and store almost anything via a photo scan.

This new feature is a logical addition to the app, as people often take photos of printed documents for easy access. By integrating this functionality into the NFC Wallet app, users can now store a wide range of items alongside their payment and access cards.

The process of adding non-traditional items to the app is simple. As a test, I scanned an invitation to a Labor Day BBQ. The app quickly processed the image and filled in details such as the event name, date, time, and address.

The app generated a digital card with all the relevant information from the scanned document. While the BBQ event didn’t match the venue on the card, the app is capable of identifying categories such as business cards, insurance documents, passports, student IDs, vehicle registration, and Voter IDs. However, the acceptance of these digital documents by authorities may vary.

Although this feature may seem like a fancy document scanner, it complements Wallet’s existing capabilities in organizing and storing paper-based documents efficiently. The update was immediately available on my Z Fold 6 device, but currently, it is only accessible in the U.S. It is expected to roll out to other regions soon.