Artie Beaty/ZDNET
Your Google Wallet is about to get significantly bigger. Google, after announcing the “Everything Else” feature at its I/O developer conference in May, is now giving this Wallet option a wide rollout.
Instead of limiting you to payment cards, transit passes, loyalty cards, and certain state driver’s licenses, Google Wallet now lets you add nearly any pass or ticket. (The app has had a similar “Photo” option for a while, but that only created a simple version of a pass that showed a barcode or QR code.)
Also: 6 reasons why I switched to a digital wallet, and you should too
With the new feature, you can scan a photo of your pass and Google will use artificial intelligence to produce a digital version of it with all the important information. Although the AI will use the information to determine what type of pass it is, you can edit any information before adding it to Wallet.
If you add a pass containing sensitive information — such as a health insurance card or a government ID — Google will categorize it as a private pass that has additional privacy and security protection. Private passes will require additional verification to view or use in Wallet. If you change the category of a private pass, Google warns, it loses those protections.
To add an “Everything Else” pass or card from a photo to your Google Wallet, you simply tap the plus sign that says “Add to Wallet” in the bottom right of your Wallet home screen. The “Everything Else” option should appear at the bottom of the list of available categories. Tap it and accept the agreement. You’ll see a choice to auto-capture or manually capture. Take a picture of your item. After Wallet processes the photo, you’ll have a chance to edit the information it captured and save the pass.
If the app captures something incorrectly and you don’t notice, you’ll be able to see the original photo right below the digital version.
Wallet will assign a category automatically, but you can change that as well. Categories include:
- Business card
- Car insurance
- Driver’s license
- Events & tickets
- Health insurance
- ID card
- Library card
- Loyalty card
- Passport
- Residence permit
- Student ID
- Tax ID card
- Vehicle registration
- Voter ID card
- Other
Also: How to use Google Wallet – and why you should already
“Everything Else” for Google Wallet is only available in the US for now.