Unfortunately this is still a step back because the whole upside to Google Wallet was that you could "carry" the Wallet balance and use it as no-fee settlement between acquaintances, or turn around and pay for Google services with small amounts not worth withdrawing.

I mean if you can do ACH (i.e debit cards) with both parties and avoid fees then that's convenient in that you don't have to exchange checking account numbers or something outrageous (just email addresses), but that still could take an indeterminate amount of time to settle. Next day? A week?

But with the wallet balance you could hold transfers I got from other people or put money in ahead of time from my bank and then when I need it, the other party knows they got it on their phone.