Google Wallet's receipt scanning has already won over most of you

Google Wallet, over the years, has evolved into much more than a simple app that lets you store your digital payment cards. The app also lets you store and tap your local transit passes, save loyalty and gift cards, store supported digital car keys, and even create digital IDs using your passport. The tech giant’s ambitions with the app are clear, and that’s why we weren’t really surprised when Google detailed several Google Wallet improvements last week.

Among the announced improvements is a new receipt scanning functionality, which, as it sounds, would let users scan receipts and store them inside the Google Wallet app. Google hasn’t detailed how the feature works just yet, but our readers don’t care. They already seem pretty excited about the prospect of keeping their receipts in one place.

We recently asked our readers whether they’re excited about Google Wallet’s receipt scanning functionality, and the results suggest that the feature will be a hit once it lands.

Our poll attracted a total of 2,184 votes, and a clear majority, 1,317 (60%), said that they can’t wait to use receipt scanning. 608 respondents (28%) weren’t quite sure if they’ll use it, while 218 voters (10%) outright said they don’t need it.

One user shared their nuanced view, saying that they won’t use the new feature because they’ve stopped using Google Wallet entirely.

These results are encouraging, but implementation will certainly be key. I’m running the latest Google Wallet build, but the scanning functionality isn’t live for me just yet. The 28% of respondents who said they aren’t sure if they’ll use the feature are likely in a similar boat, and they might be more inclined to try it out once they know what the tool is capable of.

When available, the scanning process could be similar to the document-scanning experience offered by the Files by Google app or the Google Drive app. It would be useful if the app also extracted purchase details from scanned receipts and made them searchable based on what was purchased. And, I know this is probably a long shot, but some Splitwise-like functionality that lets you split a scanned receipt among friends, assign individual items purchased to others, and even keep track of who owes what could be a very useful addition. Note that there’s no indication that Google is working on such functionality — just wishful thinking.

What are you looking for in Google Wallet’s receipt scanning functionality? Let us know in the comments below!