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TheGoogle Walletapp has undergone a few changes over the last several weeks. Last month, the app added anextra layer of verification for transit payments. Not much later, Google began asking Wallet users on Android phones to re-verify their identity afterthree minutes, regardless of whether the phone was in use or not. It now looks like this phenomenon could also spread to Wear OS devices, at least based on multiple user reports on Reddit.
Google Wallet on Wear OS isn’t as convenient as it could be
It takes two hands to use tap-to-pay on Wear OS
According to aReddituser (via9to5Google), their Wear OS smartwatch is now requesting a PIN while initiating a tap-to-pay transaction. For security reasons, Wear OS smartwatches like thePixel Watch seriesrequire a PIN to set up Google Wallet. Moreover, it also requests a PIN each time the user takes the smartwatch off. So with these safeguards already in place, making users manually enter the PIN on the wearable’s tiny screen seems like an additional step that nobody asked for.
The person who first revealed this change said they’rebased in Asia, whereas a couple of other users claim that this is a relatively new behavior for Google Wallet on Wear OS. Google recentlyconfirmedthat smartphone users will need to re-verify their credentials after a few minutes, which, as 9to5Google found out, was around three minutes. So it’s possible that the Wallet team has introduced a similar restriction for Wear OS smartwatches.
Could this be a bug?
9to5Google points out that the Google Walletsupport pagemakes no mention of smartwatches, indicating that this new authentication process may not be intentional. Let’s also not forget that Wear OS requires users to open the Wallet app either through a watch face complication or by double-tapping the digital crown, among other methods, to initiate a tap-to-pay transaction.
The aforementioned three-minute timer between verification requests on Android phones made a great deal of sense. But bringing this to smartwatches would add an unnecessary step, defeating the entire purpose of having a tap-to-pay device on your wrist. In fact, paying with a credit or debit card in your wallet could be much faster in many scenarios.
UPDATE: 2025-06-22 15:58 EST BY DALLAS THOMAS
This was a bug and Google is fixing it
A Google spokesperson has reached out to Android Police with the following statement, clarifying that this behavior was not intended and that a fix is on the way:
“We are aware of an issue that requires a small number of Wallet users to re-enter their PIN in order to make a payment from their Wear OS device, and we are working to address the issue. There is no new authentication requirement for Wear OS users.”
The company further clarifies that the behavior seen by some Wear OS users is not related to the change it recently made on Android requiring PIN authentication more frequently, and that convenience and ease of use of tap-to-pay continue to be a priority.
