Google folds Checkout into Wallet

Google Checkout and Google Wallet are two Google products with very similar goals: storing your payment information and ushering commerce through Mountain View’s ecosystem. It was just a matter of time before the company got around to mixing them together, and that’s exactly what has happened today — Google Checkout gets the short end of this stick, losing its name and folding into the larger Google Wallet initiative. For existing Checkout customers, they’ll have the option of transitioning to a Wallet account the next time they log in, while Wallet customers will see their newly-added cards become available in their Checkout accounts automatically. Merchants who support Google Checkout, meanwhile, don’t have to do anything; the change should be silent for them. It’s not as big as today’s Google Music news, of course — but with the holidays coming right up, online payments are certainly in the spotlight.

Thanks, Sean H!