Ride transit without opening Wallet on your smartwatch

This feature is available for transit passes and tap to pay transactions for transportation.

Important: This feature requires Wear OS 5 or later. If you have a Pixel Watch, this feature requires Wear OS 5.1 or later. Learn how to check the Wear OS version on your smartwatch.

Tap to pay for transit without opening Wallet

To tap to pay for transportation through your default credit or debit card without opening Wallet on your smartwatch, you must turn on this setting.

Important: If you haven't unlocked your watch in the last 24 hours, you may be prompted to unlock it even when this setting is turned on.

Through the Google Wallet app on your smartwatch

On your smartwatch, open the Google Wallet app.
Tap Manage Wallet.
Check your paired phone.
On your phone, tap your Profile picture or Account .
Tap Wallet settings Ride without opening Wallet.
Turn on Tap to ride without opening Wallet.

Through the Pixel Watch app (for Pixel Watch only)

On your paired Android phone, open the Google Pixel Watch app.
Tap Google Google Wallet.
Tap your Account Wallet settings Ride without opening Wallet.
Turn on Tap to ride without opening Wallet.

If you can’t find this setting for your watch, it means your watch doesn’t meet the minimum Wear supported OS version.

Use your transit pass without opening Wallet

When using a transit pass, you don't need to open Wallet on your smartwatch. This functionality is on by default and you don't need to adjust any settings.

When you get to the public transport entrance, hold your smartwatch to the card reader.
- You don't need to open the Wallet app on your smartwatch.
- If you haven't unlocked your watch in the last 24 hours, you'll be prompted to unlock it before you use the transit pass.
Wait for the transit card reader to respond.
- For some transit systems, you have to show your pass to an attendant.

Tip: Clipper (San Francisco Bay Area) transit passes aren't supported. You'll still need to open the Wallet app before you hold it to the card reader.

Change the default credit or debit card used for tap to pay

Change the default card for all transactions on your smartwatch

Important: Changing the default card for your smartwatch will not affect the default card used for Google Wallet on your phone when using tap to pay.

Your default credit or debit card is used for this feature when you use tap to pay on your smartwatch for contactless payments, including transit.

To change the default card on your smartwatch, learn how to change your default card on Google Wallet.

Change a card for a single transaction on your smartwatch

You can manually select a different card than your default card when you use tap to pay on your smartwatch for a single transaction.

Your default payment card will be used for any future transactions on your smartwatch unless you manually select a different card before you tap to pay. To change a card for a single transaction, learn how to pay with a non-default card on your smartwatch.