Google Wallet will finally launch in India -- nearly two years after its relaunch as a digital wallet platform in the U.S. -- according to a preview of the app that the company inadvertently published on the Google Play store in the country.

Since TechCrunch caught wind of the app's listing — which will let users upload loyalty cards and make purchases, among other things — the company would not confirm that it will be available soon to Android users. However, it then seemed to pull some of the details from the listing, including a number of what seem to be big launch partners local to India. The app now more broadly features U.S. brands.

Confusingly, Google confirmed to us that it will continue to run Google Pay as a standalone app in the country, at least for now. That is a different strategy from virtually every other market, where Google has been integrating Wallet and Pay experiences into a single Wallet app.

Here is what a Google spokesperson revealed during a statement to TechCrunch: "We don't have anything new to say at this moment, but we are always working on bringing more convenience to people's digital experiences in India. We are continuing to invest in the Google Pay app, thereby giving people easy and secure access to digital payments.".

We realize that one part of the reason is the fact that Google Pay has already become huge in the country-it's largely understood that India is Google's biggest global market for payments, and it's the second-largest payment app after PhonePe.

For one, Google is looking to provide local integrations on the Wallet app in the country, which houses its biggest Android user base. The Indian version of Google Wallet will be expected to differ from that of the U.S at least because Google has confirmed its plans to continue to offer Google Pay as its payment service in India.

The company stated that the Google Wallet listing that TechCrunch spotted last week featured screenshots of Indian airline Air India, state-owned bank State Bank of India and multiplex chain PVR Inox, suggesting loyalty points can be picked up and used through these brands. Shortly after TechCrunch reached out to Google for comment, Google updated the listing with U.S. brands.

It's apparently not available on the Play Store in India to download yet, but some Android users reported using it in the country for a while. As Indian outlet Beebom reports, functionality is pretty limited though: Users can add credit and debit cards for contactless payments, but the app does not support any Indian businesses and local loyalty programs.

These latest moves top off a lot of bouncing Google has been doing between various financial services and differently branded apps. Google Wallet launched its payment solution way back in 2011. Then, Google launched Android Pay. Then it tried to replace the Wallet and its Android Pay app with Google Pay. Back in 2022, Google had rebooted the Wallet app as the Android digital wallet platform, alongside Wear OS and Fitbit OS. But in February this year, the search giant said it would replace Google Pay with the Wallet app in the U.S.

One reason it is different in India is that Google Pay there uses the Indian government-backed framework known as Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to enable payments. This is one reason why Google Pay is different in India, and one reason why it might choose to continue giving users a separate option if they're already using it.

The second most used UPI app in India is Google Pay, after Walmart's PhonePe. This appears to be enough of a justification for Google to keep supporting it and also provide digital wallet-related experiences via the Wallet app. According to the data posted by National Payments Corporation of India, the parent organization of UPI, Google initiated more than 5 billion transactions valued at over $83 billion through the Google Pay app in March.