Google Wallet updated with a new card-switching animation

With a carousel of your payment cards at the top and a list of loyalty cards, transport passes, and tickets at the bottom, Google Wallet, or Google Pay before it, has mostly always had the same appearance. Although Google is working on some tiny improvements, this style doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. At least when they’ve linked more than one card to Google Wallet, some users are noticing a new card change animation that appears to be trickling out gradually.

Your credit cards no longer appear to be sitting next to one another; instead, the new animation gives them the appearance and feel of being stacked on top of one another. In a motion similar to a carousel, the cards slide out from behind the card at the top when you swipe to the left or right to reveal the next one. As a result, the wallet resembles a traditional wallet a little bit more, where you would typically layer or stack cards.

Your payment cards are also pushed higher on the new interface, making more of your loyalty cards and passes visible below. The issuing bank and a little indicator indicating if the card is your default payment card are now visible in a string below the card.

The new animation is probably going to be released as part of the June 2023 Play system update. Google mentioned in its changelog that it improved support for foldable phones and offered the choice to turn off entertaining animations that play after you pay or use a pass. It would make sense if the new carousel animation was incorporated into these changes, or at the very least released concurrently with them.

In either case, it can take some time before everyone sees the new animation. Make sure to check the system settings of your phone for a Google Play system update. This option is accessible on Pixel phones by going to Security and Privacy Updates in the Google Play system update.

Although there is a Play Store version of Wallet, that version mostly serves as a shortcut on your home screen rather than the actual Wallet app itself. The Google Play Services have control over the latter.