Confused about needing a Google Wallet Merchant account to enable in-app billing

Question

I've pretty much only found out that "You must have a Google Wallet Merchant account to use Google Play In-app Billing." But I don't understand... What is it for? Do I actually need this? What does it do? How and where do I get one, and does it cost anything? The Google Wallet website seems to only have information for actual stores, not apps.

What I want is there to be a free, limited version of my app, but the user could pay a monthly subscription to get access to the full features.

Answer 1

I found out that what they mean by "Google Wallet merchant" is just "Google Checkout". "Google Wallet" has two parts, the app and online. The app is just for NFC purchases and nothing else, you cannot use any prepaid money on the Google Wallet app to buy anything on Google Play. The other part is the payment system that Google runs. This second part was formerly called Google Checkout, but a few months ago they merged Google Checkout and the Google Wallet system into one name to keep their money systems consistent.

TL;DR - you do not need Google Wallet to use in-app billing. You need Google Checkout, which is easier to register for and free.