Google relaunches its U.S. payments app bringing in paid promotions to the service. It is also opening a waitlist for bank accounts to be launched next year with Citigroup Inc and ten other companies.
The modern Google Pay app, like its predecessor, permits contactless payments in stores and cash transfers. Also, with the new app, users can now transact with groups of people, search transactions, view analytics, and explore cashback offers from retailers like Burger King and Target Corp. Google will obtain a distribution fee from promotions and would open a small new line of income for the advertising giants. Google said that the transactions would not affect the ads that users see on other Google services.
With the new functionality, U.S. Google Pay will come on par with its Indian counterpart and leading its way up in the global battle for consumers and their financial data among technology companies, merchants, and banks. Caesar Sengupta, who oversees Google’s payment initiatives, said that the goal was to keep all features in one app that gives users more value and control over their money. Pay has been spread across thirty countries and has more than 150 million monthly users.
Mobile wallet operators such as Alibaba Group, Apple Inc, Samsung Electronics Co, and PayPal Holdings Inc are battling over security and other features to become hubs for shopping and banking. For example, Google claims its web search technology makes its app useful for budgeting and shifting through transactions. The latest app will be available in over 100,000 cafeterias, 30,000 steam stations, and 400 city parking times.
Plex mentioned that Google planned to add bank accounts a year ago but did not to solicit customers for the service until Wednesday. Collaborators such as Citi starting the following year will generate checking and savings accounts with no monthly fees, overdue charges, or minimum balance rules. Citi Plex users will have free access to its national network of 60,000 ATMs. This is Citi’s first bundled savings and checking account.
Citi’s incoming Chief Executive Jane Fraser stated that this collaboration gives a strategy to drive considerable scale in the Retail Bank. Green Dot Corp, Seattle Bank, and The Harbor Bank of Maryland are among the latest Plex partners. Sengupta said that one goal was “to gamify saving and make it a bunch of leisure”.
