Google is scrapping its e-payments Checkout system and merging it with Google Wallet to create a single online and offline payment experience for consumers.
While the Checkout system may have had limited appeal for online merchants, Google's efforts to extend the product into the mobile and offline environments never caught fire.
For Google Wallet users, the merger with Checkout extends the ubiquity of the mobile app to the Internet.
In a blog post, Ben Lee, product manager for Google Wallet explains: "When you shop with merchants that accept Google Wallet or Google Checkout, just use your Google Wallet username and password to complete your purchase -- there's no need to pull out your credit card or enter your shipping address with every transaction. Starting tomorrow, if you add a Citi MasterCard to the Google Wallet mobile app, it will also be available for use when you shop with Google Wallet online."
Existing Google Checkout users will be invited to take up the Wallet option next time they sign in, while Google says it will work with merchants to ease the transition to the Wallet logo and functionality after the holiday season.
The news comes as high street clothing chain Gap switched on Google Wallet payments at 65 stores in the San Francisco Bay Area. As part of a marketing push for the technology, Gap is offering a 15% discount on clothes purchased using the wallet and running special promotional deals in-store.