Microsoft Wallet, a Windows Phone app that lets you use your handset for mobile payments and loyalty cards management will be officially retired on February 28, 2019. The information was made public on the Microsoft Pay website (via Windows Central), and the announcement isn’t that surprising considering that Windows 10 Mobile will no longer be supported after December 10, 2019.
The discontinuation of Microsoft Wallet won’t impact Microsoft Pay, the company’s online payments platform that recently picked up support for Masterpass by Mastercard. Microsoft Wallet was a Windows Phone-only affair, adding tap-to-pay payments on NFC-compatible Windows phones back in Summer 2016. At launch, the Redmond giant managed to get several US banks on board such as Bank of America, BECU, First Tech Federal Credit Union, People’s United Bank, and the Virginia Credit Union, and we’ve seen more major banks supporting Microsoft Wallet in the following years. Unfortunately, the focus on US banks and the already sad state of Windows 10 Mobile in 2016 meant that it was probably too late for Microsoft Wallet to really take off.
If you’ve been using your Windows phone for mobile payments, you still have a little more than a month to do so. Microsoft is now officially inviting Windows 10 Mobile users to “move to a supported Android or iOS device,” and both platforms have their own mobile payments system with much better industry support.
