Google is planning to offer checking accounts within its Google Pay app, The Wall Street Journal reports. Its “Cache” project, which could launch as soon as next year, will be offered in partnership with Citigroup and a small Stanford University credit union.
According to Google, it will not sell account holders’ financial data. Caesar Sengupta, General Manager & VP, Payments and Next Billion Users, “If we can help more people do more stuff in a digital way… it’s good for the Internet and good for us”.
Facebook, which has launched a payment system for all its apps – WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger and Facebook – is facing scrutiny over its digital currency Libra.
US lawmakers bluntly told Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a hearing last month to address his existing failures first before launching the digital currency Libra.
In a six-hour grilling at a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Wednesday, both Democrat and Republican lawmakers expressed dissatisfaction with Facebook’s cryptocurrency plans.
(With input from agencies)