Google will offer checking accounts, says it won't sell the data
The Google empire is enormous and ubiquitous, covering basically the entire Internet in one way or another. There is, however, one lucrative business the company does not yet have a foothold in: banking. And now it has plans to change that.
Google is working to launch consumer checking accounts next year, The Wall Street Journal first reported this morning. The project, code-named Cache because apparently nobody can resist a pun, is expected to launch next year, sources told the Journal. CNBC, also citing "sources familiar," confirmed the WSJ's reporting.
Google: Not a bank
The accounts will be run in partnership with Citibank and a credit union based out of Stanford University. Google executive Caesar Sengupta told the WSJ that the accounts will carry branding from the banks, not from Google, which will also "leave the financial plumbing and compliance" to the banks.
Google and its partners are still hammering out the details of these accounts, including whether or when accounts might incur fees. (Many banks that offer checking accounts waive monthly fees for customers who maintain a certain average balance or who use direct deposit.)
"Our approach is going to be to partner deeply with banks and the financial system," Sengupta told the WSJ. "It may be the slightly longer path, but it's more sustainable."
Also at The Verge.
(Score: 3, Funny) by ataradov on Thursday November 14 2019, @06:40AM (4 children)
Looking forward to the news of this thing being shutdown next year.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 14 2019, @06:44AM (3 children)
That is an unfair dig at Google.
They will continue to hold onto your money for you even after the shutdown.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 14 2019, @10:23AM (2 children)
It gives an all new meaning to clearing your "cache" too.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 14 2019, @03:16PM
One stop hacking.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Thursday November 14 2019, @09:08PM
Customer to Google: "Following GDPR, I demand that you delete all data that you have about me!"
Google: "OK, done."
Customer: "Hey, where's my money?"
Google: "Sorry, we don't have any data about your money."
;-)
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Thursday November 14 2019, @07:55AM (3 children)
So Google says they won't sell the data? Add an implicit “yet” to the statement.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 14 2019, @08:41AM
Wouldn't you want Google to sell the data if they were offered enough money to do so? You want Google to be successful, right?
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Thursday November 14 2019, @12:13PM
Too late.
Visa already sells the data (and I never checked Mastercard).
(Score: 2) by Unixnut on Thursday November 14 2019, @12:46PM
> So Google says they won't sell the data? Add an implicit “yet” to the statement.
I believe them, I don't think they will sell the data. Google is a data hoarder. It is too valuable to Google to sell it to competitors.
Generally, my strongest desire for my personal information is to keep it out of companies such as Google. I am worried about companies selling my data TO companies like Google.
If Google is the one collecting it, then them not selling it onwards is pretty much irrelevant.
(Score: 2) by jmichaelhudsondotnet on Thursday November 14 2019, @09:24AM (5 children)
As with Libra-facegag, this will be a nice high water mark.
That they can even find someone who will accept 200k/year to mouth the words 'We, google, will protect your data' is what is astounding to me at this point.
Who is this for? Who even thinks this up? Who is like, 'you know what, we should merge email with banking.'
It reads to me like an april fools joke. 'Let's complicate everything more at the same time we centralize and monopolize it!'
All the eggs in one basket, as fast as possible! - is not a solid design principle. Nor is 'we will let you handle all the details.'
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 14 2019, @09:40AM (4 children)
2019: Spam an emoji on YouTube, and we delete your Google account. [businessinsider.com]
2020: Blink wrong, and we freeze your Google bank account.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by VLM on Thursday November 14 2019, @12:51PM (3 children)
More likely
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Thursday November 14 2019, @01:56PM (2 children)
How would Google know how you voted?
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 14 2019, @03:24PM
By picking up on the emissions of the voting machine in direct presence of the google phone?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 15 2019, @10:54AM
They don't need to. They already have enough information on you to know how you will vote.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Thursday November 14 2019, @12:50PM (1 child)
Whos the target market? Turning cell phones into fake psuedo electric credit cards seems to have been an epic failure. So now we'll sell folks who wouldn't buy into that, turning phones into fake psuedo paper checks, because that will sell so much better?
My guess is the true root cause is they want to be able to de-platform people from the financial system, and its more a social control "stick" than a profit center, so if it loses money that's "OK".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 14 2019, @10:12PM
There's nothing to worry about because they'll abandon this after about five years anyway.