The days when Google was just a search engine are now history, as the Alphabet-owned company announced its plan to expand its financial portfolio, by offering a checking account.
The days when Google was just a search engine are now history, as the Alphabet-owned company announced its plan to expand its financial portfolio, by offering a checking account.
According to a report from CNBC, this move from the search engine giant will just make the rivalry between the two giants more intense but also comes as an answer to the credit card Apple announced earlier this year.
Google reached an agreement with Citigroup last month, claims the same source. This involves developing a checking account which will eventually be linked to Google Pay as early as January 2020.
Another battlefront for the two giants
Comparing the two financial offers, they are slightly different but remain finance products linked to digital wallets embedded in handsets running Android or iOS.
As for the final users, it doesn’t matter if you choose Google Pay or Apple Pay. The final purpose is basically the same: locking you into a constantly growing ecosystem, while offering the two companies new sources of income, but also information about your financial habits.
“Everyone wants the payment to happen through their device because if it’s effortless it will entrench you in their ecosystem,” says Gerard du Toit, banking consultant for Bain. “The information is valuable for Google in particular; if they are able to connect a specific purchase to advertising, there’s immense value in that.”
Google will present the account as a “smart checking one” and includes budgeting tools, as well as many other features, according to an official statement.
Nevertheless, it’s a first move for the company as they’re currently exploring new products from the same range, like co-branded credit cards. The same thing can be said about Apple, as they will, most likely, release a checking account shortly as well.
But what about data safety, Google?
Of course, it will be very interesting to see how regulators will welcome such releases. After all, we’re talking about specific risks in terms of data security. And let’s not forget that Google’s partnership with the second health system in the United States, in terms of size, managed to attract a federal inquiry, regarding the way sensitive data will be protected.
Besides this, we’re looking at a huge global battle in the making. In Asia, for example, giants like Tencent or Alibaba are already important players in the payments game, thanks to their mobile apps. Also, let’s not forget about Grab, based in Southeast Asia, as well as Uber, in the United States, who made the jump to offering financial services.
Therefore, seeing such an announcement from Google is not the biggest surprise. But it will be difficult, at least in the beginning for them to attract signups, so we’re looking forward to seeing a campaign full of incentives, like discounted handsets or various services.
According to a report from CNBC, this move from the search engine giant will just make the rivalry between the two giants more intense but also comes as an answer to the credit card Apple announced earlier this year.
Google reached an agreement with Citigroup last month, claims the same source. This involves developing a checking account which will eventually be linked to Google Pay as early as January 2020.
Another battlefront for the two giants
Comparing the two financial offers, they are slightly different but remain finance products linked to digital wallets embedded in handsets running Android or iOS.
As for the final users, it doesn’t matter if you choose Google Pay or Apple Pay. The final purpose is basically the same: locking you into a constantly growing ecosystem, while offering the two companies new sources of income, but also information about your financial habits.
“Everyone wants the payment to happen through their device, because if it’s effortless it will entrench you in their ecosystem,” says Gerard du Toit, banking consultant for Bain. “The information is valuable for Google in particular; if they are able to connect a specific purchase to advertising, there’s immense value in that.”
Google will present the account as a “smart checking one” and includes budgeting tools, as well as many other features, according to an official statement.
Nevertheless, it’s a first move for the company as they’re currently exploring new products from the same range, like co-branded credit cards. The same thing can be said about Apple, as they will, most likely, release a checking account in the near future as well.
But what about data safety, Google?
Of course, it will be very interesting to see how regulators will welcome such releases. After all, we’re talking about specific risks in terms of data security. And let’s not forget that Google’s partnership with the second health system in the United States, in terms of size, managed to attract a federal inquiry, regarding the way sensitive data will be protected.
Besides this, we’re looking at a huge global battle in the making. In Asia, for example, giants like Tencent or Alibaba are already important players in the payments game, thanks to their mobile apps. Also, let’s not forget about Grab, based in Southwast Asia, as well as Uber, in the United States, who made the jump to offering financial services.
Therefore, seeing such announcement from Google is not the biggest surprise. But it will be difficult, at least in the beginning for them to attract signups, so we’re looking forward to seeing a campaign full of incentives, like discounted handsets or various services.
