Google Pay unveils integrated banking challenger Plex
Google has revealed the creation of Plex, “a new mobile-first bank account integrated into Google Pay”.
Plex is a checking and savings account. Google says the banking challenger will have no monthly fees, overdraft charges or minimum balance requirements.
Plex will sit in the wider, revamped Google Pay app
Come 2021, the US Big Tech’s 11 bank and credit union partners will offer Plex accounts to US consumers.
Worldwide, Google Pay has more than 150 million monthly active customers across 30 different countries.
Currently, US consumers can register for an account via a waitlist with Citi or Stanford Federal Credit Union (SFCU).
Other partners include BankMobile, BBVA USA, BMO Harris, Coastal Community Bank, First Independence Bank, and SEFCU.
Plex in the wider Google Pay app ecosystem
As well as announcing Plex, Google Pay has also undergone a major revamp.
The overhaul sees it take on PayPal’s peer-to-peer (P2P) service Venmo, Intuit’s budget tracker Mint, and Shopify’s package and order tracker Shop.
Transaction displays are now based around conversations. Users can also split and calculate expenses such as rent or a dinner via a group in Google Pay.
Reward partners designed to help users save include Burger King, Etsy, and Target. Google Pay customers can tap to activate these discounts, which are then automatically applied on payments in store or online.
“If you choose to connect your bank account or cards to Google Pay, the app will provide periodic spending summaries and show your trends and insights over time,” the Big Tech says in a statement.
The app’s payment categorisations are more sophisticated than other banking apps. If a user searches “food,” “last month,” or “Mexican restaurants”, they can find the relevant transactions on the cards they have connected.
Like a banking app, Google Pay will send alerts when users pay a new person. And users have the option to connect their transaction history, so Google can offer more personalisation.
Non-banking services include a food order service to some 100,000 restaurants, in-app gas purchases at over 30,000 gas stations and in-app parking payments in 400 US cities.
Read next: Google Pay to launch bank accounts in 2021 with flurry of partners
Google is totally unqualified to provide full range of banking services.
As a global banking consultant, Google does not meet the necessary criteria to meet the needs on businesses or individuals in their financial transaction requirements.
both management and culture changes would be necessary for Google to be considered for this activity.