In a blog post, Joris van Mens, the group product manager of Google Pay, said the app was being withdrawn "to simplify the app experience" as Google Wallet was 'the primary place for people to securely store payment cards used for tap and pay in stores".

No direct mention was made of the take-up of the standalone app in the US. In the past, when Google products have been pulled from the market, it has generally been due to lack of users.

However, Van Mens said: "You can continue to access the most popular features — tapping to pay in stores and managing payment methods — right from Google Wallet, which is used five times more than the Google Pay app in the US."

Google regularly pulls apps from public use. This has become so frequent that a developer named Cody Ogden has set up a dedicated website called the Google Graveyard listing all of the withdrawn products.

Van Mens added: "For over a decade, we’ve helped people around the world make simple and secure digital payments powered by Google Pay — whether they’re making purchases online or in physical stores.

"Today, millions of people in over 180 countries use Google Pay to securely check out when shopping with their favorite retailers on desktop using ChromeOS, macOS and Windows PC, from Android and iOS apps, and in stores.

"Android users can easily save, find and use their Google Pay payments methods on the go with Google Wallet."

But from 4 June, "you will no longer be able to send, request or receive money from others through the US version of the Google Pay app", he said.