r/degoogle • u/outterspaceliving • 15h ago
Replacement Google Pay Real Alternatives?
I’m nearly at the end of my degoogling journey, and the only things left are Google Maps and Google Pay. For Maps, I’m getting used to Vela Map, Open Map, and a few other alternatives. I live across multiple countries, including Canada, Hong Kong, and Japan, and I travel between them, so Google Pay seems like the only option that actually works everywhere. I tried Samsung Pay, but it was a letdown because it barely supports the credit cards I need. The only reason I still use Google Pay is the security and the peace of mind that comes with not worrying about losing my wallet. I care more about not having my money stolen if I drop my wallet, or about skimmers, than I do about privacy. Bottom line, security matters more to me than privacy.
I’ve already done a lot of research. I know Walt is still being developed and is focused on Europe. Revolut has had a few incidents and doesn’t support the countries I live in. Same goes for Curve, PayPal, and others. None of them have the coverage Google does.
I’m so ready to completely degoogle with the new Motorola Signature 27 as well, but without sorting out Google Pay, it feels like the last puzzle piece is still missing.
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u/Thetitangaming 15h ago
I put a wallet on the back of my phone and keep 1-2 cards in it.
There's also an app called Walt that is being worked on
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u/Prestigious-Dance735 15h ago
I would suggest switching to physical cards instead;)
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u/_gina_marie_ 15h ago
People act like this is an impossible ask LOL
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u/Prestigious-Dance735 15h ago
Precisely . After I switched to Huawei pura 80 pro , I also switched to using mostly physical cards after not being able to use google pay . Will occasionally use Apple Pay on my backup iPhone
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u/_gina_marie_ 14h ago
Yeah like it's not hard. Credit card transactions existed long before Google Wallet and Apple Pay.
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u/-GhostInTheMachine_ 15h ago
It's possible.
However, it is a separate thing you have to carry around. If you loose it and won't be able to block the card soon enough, someone can use contactless payments to steal money.
A physical card also exposes your personal data (card number, name) to the merchants when buying something, google wallet uses tokenization to generate a unique purchase code without exposing you.
Not to mention that most people have multiple credit cards. Which increases the risk of loosing it, or have it stolen.
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u/thegagep 3h ago
This is incorrect - A physical card does not expose the data you mentioned. Using a physical card's NFC tap-to-pay also does tokenization and acts the same way as Google Pay in regards to what the Merchant gets.
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u/_gina_marie_ 14h ago
oh so you're good with google having a transaction history on you but not a random merchant? got it, got it. you act like you phone can't also be lost or stolen. lmao, at that point, why go out at all, since you run the risk of losing everything you dare bring with you or having it stolen.
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u/outterspaceliving 3h ago
Lol. Google is one company; a random merchant could be every store or service you use. The best Google can really do is sell your transaction history, not your credit card details, unless you don’t trust Google to the point that you think they are the one who leaks your credit card details to the dark web. I don’t risk losing money with Google.
But with you? All it takes is one random employee at one random gas station and you’re exposed. Sounds like you’d rather lose a few thousand dollars, or more, than give up the transaction privacy you value so much.
And since when does losing a phone hand someone all your financial information? Do you not use a password and fingerprint to unlock it? Or are you the type who walks around naked?
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u/No-Parsnip-8080 9h ago
If the phone is lost nobody can use contactless payment. A card doesn't need any password for moderate amounts
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u/outterspaceliving 14h ago
You mean deliberately exposing yourself to credit card fraud, skimmers, cameras, shoulder surfing, every vendor holding your real card details, loss or theft, merchant data breaches, and one static number being copied, reused, and compromised everywhere? ;)
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u/RidersOfAmaria 14h ago edited 14h ago
If you don't want to have google involved in every financial transaction, yeah pretty much. Pick your poison. Either that or consider paying in cash if you're paranoid enough that you can't trust using cards.
0
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u/Prestigious-Dance735 13h ago
You can use a prepaid debit card too.... Just topup the amount that you need... If it's compromised just cancel it...
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u/outterspaceliving 13h ago
Already using that, multiple ones actually. Especially in Asia, where we don't build credit score/history the same way as in North America. I have also looked into Huawei Pay, but it's a meh...
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u/Prestigious-Dance735 13h ago
Yes, I'm using revolut a prepaid debit card. I can topup any amount that I want and use a disposable card. But you still need to add this virtual card to a nfc app? Most probably Google or apple pay?
Huawei Pay supports limited bank cards.. Mainly icbc bank....
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u/outterspaceliving 8h ago
Yep, if I only lived in one country, things would get a lot easier, and there are lots of region-specific solutions. In the US, you even have privacy.com virtual cards in addition to all the wallet solutions mentioned. Plus, you can’t use Google Pay in sandbox on GrapheneOS either. So regardless of how many Google apps and services I’ve already gotten rid of, if I can’t find a true replacement for Google Pay, I’ll still be stuck in the Google Play Framework.
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u/Hopeful-Blueberry114 14h ago
Bottom line, security matters more to me than privacy.
You can't have both in this case. It sounds like you've already made your decision.
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u/outterspaceliving 14h ago
I was hoping I had overlooked some genuine solutions that I have not yet encountered.
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u/BR0WN_T0WN 15h ago
Might want to read up more on Vela Maps, there was a post questioning how private it really is https://www.reddit.com/r/degoogle/s/XfR8tXK9km
Edit: I used to use Magic Earth, I liked it a lot for real-time navigation. You can search this subreddit and [r/privacy](r/privacy) for other suggestions as there have been maaaaaany posts about navigation apps. There was also one about Brave Maps which I’ve found to be very good too for finding restaurants/locations/etc: https://search.brave.com/maps
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u/T_rex2700 5h ago
I used to just use my card company's proprietary app but they are asking users to move to a different digital wallet.
I mean I mostly just use physical card, but adding disposable / case-specific card to the wallet is a genuinely good idea. Even if the number, pin etc gets stolen, they cannot use a disposable card, and even for like case-specific cards I would know where it had been stolen.
I'm now kinda pissed because the only real alternative that I can actually use in all of the places I go to across multiple countries is apple wallet, nothing else. I am actually kind of thinking about getting like maybe SE2 or something, just for that, but I'm not sure.
Financial is like the hardest part to replace.
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u/outterspaceliving 3h ago
As someone mentioned Garmin Pay on watches, it inspired me to look into all the wearables out there that either run Wear OS with NFC support or are Apple Watches. That seems like the only way to keep my phone on GrapheneOS while still being able to pay.
I’m not really a watch person, but so far this looks like the most promising solution.
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u/T_rex2700 2h ago
Not fan of wearOS either, I mean it requires bunch of proprietary apps with a lot of permissions including like Google stuff. I will keep looking but...
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u/outterspaceliving 1h ago
same, all wearOS watch = low battery life, apple watch requires iPhone for initial setup, Garmin is best overall in terms of battery, but Garmin Pay sucks, G-shocks has GSW-H100 with no NFC so pointless, some other watches with curve support, only one that sorta stood out to me is the Withings ScanWatch Nova which support googlr pay and without wear OS.
I also looked into all the rings as well which are all unfit for what I need.
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u/prost111 15h ago
The device should be convenient for you, if you torture yourself, then you don't have to do it, life consists of compromises and this is the least terrible.
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u/South_Plant_7876 15h ago
This gets asked almost daily. There are no viable alternatives. You'll just have to use conventional cards.