Why, oh why, does Google Wallet stop working after scanning a Tesco Clubcard?
• 1 min read
The problem is not new. You’re in Tesco (a UK supermarket), and you bring up your Tesco Clubcard (a loyalty card) in Google Wallet on your Google Pixel phone and scan the Clubcard at the till. Then, you swipe back up to your payment card and try to pay.
It doesn’t work. You have to swipe between cards a few times before contactless payments start working again.
Am I alone? Nope, here’s a thread from Reddit with a load of reports of this (albeit not everyone has made the Clubcard link):
And here are some more reports from the Google Wallet Community (with classically useless replies from ‘Diamond Product Experts’):
The problem’s clearly on the device, and it’s hard not to believe that the problem is in Google Wallet. Sort it out, Google.
(If it matters, I added my Clubcard to Google Wallet using the Tesco app. Real Clubcards can also be used contactlessly, though there’s no indication that the Clubcard in Google Wallet can be used that way…)
Update 20 October 2024
I haven’t had this problem for the past few visits to Tesco – it may be, finally, fixed…