Skip to Content
Silicon Valley

Now Google wants to get into banking too

November 13, 2019
An image of a smartphone with the Google Pay application open on the screen, sitting next to a laptop computer.
An image of a smartphone with the Google Pay application open on the screen, sitting next to a laptop computer.Matthew Kwong | Unsplash

Google will soon let users open checking accounts, joining a number of other tech firms that want to get further into financial services.

The news: The project, code-named Cache, is slated to launch next year, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. Google has partnered with Citigroup and a credit union at Stanford University, which will administer the accounts, according to the report. Users will be able to access their accounts through Google’s digital payment platform, Google Pay.

Big Tech banking: Technology companies apparently see financial services as a way to gain new users and collect valuable information about them. Last year, Amazon said it was in talks with banks to allow its users to have checking accounts. Apple recently partnered with Goldman Sachs to launch its own credit card. PayPal is expanding its services by launching a Venmo credit card. Perhaps most ambitious is Facebook, which wants to launch its own digital currency and blockchain network, called Libra, that could offer a number of services in addition to payments.

Skepticism: But consumers are rightly skeptical of technology companies’ ability to keep their data private and secure. This could make it difficult for Google and others. Big banks and their lobbyists in Washington, DC, may also be an obstacle if they fear losing business. Policymakers, already concerned about the dominance of firms like Google, Facebook, Apple, and Amazon, may also try to slow or hinder Big Tech’s foray into finance.

Start small and play nice: Google’s approach is nowhere near as ambitious as Facebook’s, and that may be for a reason. “Our approach is going to be to partner deeply with banks and the financial system,” Google executive Caesar Sengupta told the Wall Street Journal. “It may be the slightly longer path, but it’s more sustainable.”

Keep Reading

Most Popular

Large language models can do jaw-dropping things. But nobody knows exactly why.

And that's a problem. Figuring it out is one of the biggest scientific puzzles of our time and a crucial step towards controlling more powerful future models.

OpenAI teases an amazing new generative video model called Sora

The firm is sharing Sora with a small group of safety testers but the rest of us will have to wait to learn more.

Google’s Gemini is now in everything. Here’s how you can try it out.

Gmail, Docs, and more will now come with Gemini baked in. But Europeans will have to wait before they can download the app.

This baby with a head camera helped teach an AI how kids learn language

A neural network trained on the experiences of a single young child managed to learn one of the core components of language: how to match words to the objects they represent.

Stay connected

Illustration by Rose Wong

Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review

Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.

Thank you for submitting your email!

Explore more newsletters

It looks like something went wrong.

We’re having trouble saving your preferences. Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. If you continue to get this message, reach out to us at customer-service@technologyreview.com with a list of newsletters you’d like to receive.