# Google Pay 26 Hacker News commenters recommended Google Pay and 33 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 11 of 13 months. **Verdict:** People recommend it for fast, convenient phone payments, including virtual card numbers and fingerprint authentication. Critics say it fails on some phones and locks out GrapheneOS and rooted devices. ## Why people recommend it - Replaces physical wallet and cards (3 comments): "Google Pay and digital wallets have literally freed up one of my jean pockets permanently." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45911927)) "I use Google Pay for basically everything. I'm not even taking my wallet with me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46801533)) "GPay is a staple, I don't even have a plastic card" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49189506)) - Virtual card numbers (3 comments): "Chrome's integration with Googgle Pay for example (which lets you generate virtual card numbers on the fly)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49893388)) "One very nice use case of Google/Apple Pay is being able to pay with a virtual card in-person." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49145200)) "virtual number so my real card number won't leak in many cases" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48565183)) - Easy, works almost everywhere (3 comments): "Google/Apple Pay works really, really well everywhere on the planet." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47041441)) "Spending money via Google Pay on Android is extremely easy" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49291846)) "Google Pay and co work fine." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46198658)) - Extra layer of protection (3 comments): "more convenient and offer better protection than PayPal does" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48927509)) "Apple Pay and Google Pay add another layer of protection." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49476990)) "Google Pay has the same privacy advantages for end users." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49861022)) ## What people warn about - Blocked on rooted or custom phones (5 comments): "Unfortunately my bank also switched to Google Pay which does require Play Integrity, so contactless payments are out of the question on that phone now." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47314268)) "Google Pay bans using GrapheneOS so that's why tap-to-pay on GrapheneOS is only available in regions with alternatives to Google Pay." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50223791)) "Google Pay disables NFC payments as it requires hardware attestation against Google's root keys." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47092201)) - Adds reliance on Google and Apple (4 comments): "EU should have forced Google and Apple to allow people to use NFC pay without having Google or Apple accounts" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48783489)) "Trading a dependency on MasterCard and Visa for one on Google and Apple is at best a sidegrade." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48209375)) "force google pay to make itself available on any platform that wants to integrate it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49856886)) - Unreliable contactless use at times (2 comments): "contactless payments work but not through Google Pay" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47230049)) "you can still use Google Pay most of the time. Except when you randomly can't!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48273304)) - Privacy and data concerns (2 comments): "Apple Pay/Google Pay would only marginally improve the privacy in the Walmart scenario, which is a bummer." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46979689)) "They want our valuable transactional data, and location when those are made." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46970798)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Wero](https://hackerapproved.com/p/wero.md): 84 recommend - [Apple Pay](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-pay.md): 73 recommend - [Google Wallet](https://hackerapproved.com/p/google-wallet.md): 22 recommend - [Curve Pay](https://hackerapproved.com/p/curve.md): 22 recommend - [Swish payment app](https://hackerapproved.com/p/swish.md): 19 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://accounts.google.com/v3/signin/identifier?continue=https://wallet.google.com/wallet?p%3Dpgc%26utm_source%3Dpgc%26utm_medium%3Dwebsite%26utm_campaign%3Dredirect&followup=https://wallet.google.com/wallet?p%3Dpgc%26utm_source%3Dpgc%26utm_medium%3Dwebsite%26utm_campaign%3Dredirect&osid=1&passive=1209600&flowName=GlifWebSignIn&flowEntry=ServiceLogin&dsh=S-1993142404:1793623615685797) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Google Pay", https://hackerapproved.com/p/google-pay/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).