Apple Pay vs Google Wallet
Hardly anyone chooses between these two — the phone in your pocket already decided. The comparison only becomes a live question when you are switching platforms, or when you tap on to public transport.
You cannot run both on one device, so this is a phone decision wearing a payments costume. On an iPhone, Apple Pay; on an Android, Google Wallet. Neither charges anything, both tokenise the card so the merchant never sees the real number, and both work anywhere contactless is accepted. The one place they diverge is public transport, where Google Wallet's Australian ticketing support is more complete. If payments are a tiebreaker in a phone purchase, that is the only tiebreaker worth having.
Side by side
Neither of these charges the customer a fee of its own, so there is no cost row to compute — what you pay is set by the card or account behind the wallet. The rows above are what actually separates them.
Which one, and when
You already own the phone
This covers most readers and belongs first. Apple Pay exists only on iPhone and Apple Watch; Google Wallet only on Android. There is no version of this decision in which you weigh features against each other, because the other one will not install. Set up what you have and stop reading.
You tap on to public transport with your phone
This is the difference that shows up day to day. Google Wallet handles Australian transit ticketing more completely, where Apple Pay's coverage is partial and varies by network. Check your own state's operator before assuming either way — the gap is real, but it is not uniform across the country, and it moves as networks add support.
You are moving from iPhone to Android, or back
Cards do not migrate. Each wallet tokenises your card against that specific device, so changing platforms means re-adding every card on the new phone and, at some banks, re-verifying by SMS or in the banking app. Nothing is lost and nothing costs anything, but nothing carries across either. Do it at the kitchen table, not at a checkout.
Your household runs both platforms
One card can be live in both wallets on different devices at once. There is no fee and no reason to standardise a household on one platform for payment reasons. The card is the account; the wallet is only a way of presenting it, which is also why neither wallet appears on your statement.
Where each one loses
Apple Pay runs on Apple hardware only, so it is not an option at all on most phones sold here, and its Australian transit ticketing is partial where Google Wallet's is complete.
Google Wallet is Android-only and equally unavailable to iPhone owners. Google's Australian payments entity holds AFSL 318755, but that licence covers Google's payments business rather than the tap itself, so it should not be read as protection the other wallet lacks — in both cases the regulated party is your card issuer.
General information about payment methods available in Australia. Not financial advice. Fees, limits and features change — verify current terms with the provider before acting.