Google to offer current accounts with US banks in pay app revamp

Rather than directly challenge the US financial industry, Google Pay will help users open accounts at partner banks including Citigroup

Since its debut in 2015, Google Pay has amassed 150 million users in 30 countries

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Google Pay users will be able to use the app to apply for so-called Plex checking and savings accounts from 11 banks. Photo: DPA

Published: 3:11pm, 19 Nov 2020Updated: 3:19pm, 19 Nov 2020

Alphabet has unveiled its long-anticipated expansion of Google Pay, partnering with banks and retailers to offer consumers new forms of bank accounts, cards and discounts.

The upgraded payment system marks the technology giant’s deepest foray yet into the US financial system – just as the pandemic speeds up the shift away from cash and as authorities raise concerns about Chinese super apps such as Alipay and WeChat.

Rather than directly challenge the US financial industry, Google Pay will help users open accounts at partner banks including Citigroup, which promptly launched a waiting list for an account tailored to the new ecosystem.

“We’re working very closely with the financial industry,” said Caesar Sengupta, vice-president of the payments business at Google. “We want to make sure we’re meeting all the standards that regulators and others have set.”

It is the latest attempt by a Silicon Valley juggernaut to intertwine itself in the vast cash flows and valuable data generated by everyday commerce. But it also underscores the willingness of entrenched financial players to partner up on new ventures to avoid getting shut out.

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