How to add physical IDs and passes to Google Wallet with a photo

Google Wallet is Google’s digital payment, pass, and identification app on Android and the web. Much like the Wallet app on the iPhone, it’s the main way to tap-to-pay and manage your payment options on many Android phones, but it can also hold other kinds of passes and identification. And now, thanks to some AI-powered image recognition, it can accommodate all sorts of paper passes, tickets, and IDs, too, just by taking a photo.

Things weren’t always this straightforward (with Google, they rarely are). Google Wallet was Google’s first stab at a digital wallet app, but it’s also tried Android Pay, a mobile banking solution called Plex, and Google Pay, which is still the name of Google’s contactless payment method, but the app was discontinued in the U.S. in June 2024 and replaced by Google Wallet.

Luckily, the Wallet app has proven to work just as well as the others, and the ability to add physical cards and tickets makes it even better. Here’s how to add just about any ID, card or pass to Google Wallet with a photo.

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How to add a physical card to Google Wallet with a photo

Agree to Google’s terms and take some pictures

If you don’t already have it, you’ll want to install Google Wallet app on your phone. You don’t need to add a payment card or really do anything other than make sure your Google account is connected to use this new AI-powered feature, but if you haven’t added a payment card yet, try it. It’s surprisingly convenient. Here’s how to do the rest:

1. Open the Google Wallet app.
2. Tap on Add to Wallet in the bottom right corner (it has a “+”).
3. Tap on “Everything else.”
4. Agree to Google’s terms and conditions by tapping on the option in the bottom right corner.
5. Take a picture of the ticket or card you’re adding.
6. Fill out the fields that correspond to your card information and correct anything Google gets wrong (it’ll attempt to identify what kind of card or pass it is, for example).
7. There will now be a digital version of the card in Google Wallet, along with color scans of your original physical version.

The design of the digital pass or card will vary in Google Wallet depending on what kind of information it has, but Google should be able to reliably reproduce any barcodes or other identifying information, so you don’t have to whip out your physical card to check out a library book, for example.

The types of physical cards and passes Google Wallet can identify

Google can identify several different types of cards, passes, and tickets automatically, but also offers an “Other” category for things it can’t identify that you still want to save. Here are the categories of physical documents the app can identify:

• Business cards
• Car insurance
• Driver’s licenses
• Event passes or tickets
• Health insurance
• ID cards
• Library cards
• Loyalty cards
• Passports
• Residence permits
• Student IDs
• Tax ID cards
• Vehicle registration
• Other

Google Wallet can hold just about anything

It’s much more flexible than Apple’s Wallet app

If you’re already taking your smartphone everywhere, having an app that can collect all of your important cards and documents, permanent or otherwise, is undeniably helpful. Regardless of Google’s messy management, Google Wallet does a pretty good job of just that, and it’s even better now that more physical passes and cards can be added with a scan.

Apple Wallet isn’t nearly as open-ended, but it has at least expanded to incorporate ID cards. If you’re looking for more ways to add things to Google Wallet, Pocket-lint has guides on adding boarding passes and car keys that you can follow.