Google Pay’s massive relaunch makes it an all-encompassing money app

Google Pay up's massive relaunch makes it an all-encompassing money app

It will include tap-to-bear, equal-to-match, personal finance aggregation, customizable deals, and even full banking services

By November 18, 2020, 12:45pm Eastern Time

Today, Google Pay for both Android and iOS is relaunching with a giant array of new features. Information technology turns the app from something that virtually people concoct as a tap-to-pay out card repository or peer-to-peer payment system into a much more difficult service. The new app begins rolling out across the United States today.

The new version of the app will take up three new tabs: "Earnings," which includes peer-to-equal payments as well atomic number 3 your dealing history using tap-to-pay; "Explore," which will be a place where Google wish offer deals and discounts; and finally, "Insights," which will allow you to unite your bank accounts to bring a searchable overview of your pecuniary resourc.

You will even be given the option to allow Google Pay to crawl your Gmail inbox and your Google Photos accounting to look for receipts. Google volition use OCR engineering science to automobile-scan them and integrate them into your finance tracking.

In 2021, Google testament partner with some banks to directly pass fully online checking and savings accounts deep down Google Pay — a service Google is calling "Plex."

Google Pay now has three tabs with new features in each. — *Google Pay nowadays has ternion tabs with new features in each.*

Not each of these services are strictly new for Google, but this wish mark the first time they're unified into a single app. In doing so, Google Devote is now arguably a direct contender to a all-encompassing array of early apps and services, including Apple Pay, Samsung Wage, PayPal, Venmo, Square Cash in, Intuit's Mint, Simplifi, Truebill, Shop, and too online banks like Friend. That is a lot of companies that will have to contend with Google making a high-profile push into their market.

Each of the advanced features are opt in, so if you prefer to simply use information technology as it presently exists nowadays (arsenic a tapdance-to-pay app on Android or peer-to-peer payments on the iPhone), you should exist able to do that. Regular so, this is a huge expansion of capabilities and data collection in a Google app that is likely to raise privacy concerns.

Google tells me that it has a policy to not sell or share data to third parties and that it will not "parcel your transaction chronicle with the rest of Google for targeting ads." It will also have a first-role experience that will present a serial of privacy prompts and settings options. Different Apple Pay, Google's servers will have approach to your data so IT hind end be analyzed and ready-made searchable for you in the app — though the accompany assures that it'll be strongly encrypted.

A stranger — and perhaps telling — privacy option is that those who want to get individualized deals will take over the option to agree to a three-month "trial" of allowing Google to psychoanalyse their transaction history to customize their offers. After the three months, they'll be prompted if they want to keep victimization that office of the service.

Let's dig into what we know about to each one vista of the Robert William Service.

Google organizes peer-to-peer payments into chat interfaces. — *Google organizes peer-to-peer payments into visit interfaces.*

Pay

The center and primary tab for Google Pay will commingle a copulate of the present Google Pay services: intercept-to-pay and peer-to-peer. Information technology's arranged to provide more selective information than before. The first set of icons will be for your contacts, and tapping on any one of them will open ahead a chat-like view of your payments to each other.

*Google Pay still handles rewards cards, but integration with partner retailers is tighter.*

You'll also be able to correct improving group payments, putting multiple people in a chat and letting them send and request money from each other — e.g., if you'ray ripping a eating house bill or have a group of roommates sharing bills. It will also track World Health Organization has and hasn't square their share and let you tap a push to badger them.

In other words, it's not unequal Venmo.

Underneath the great unwashe are all of the businesses you've profitable victimisation Google Fund — either with tap-to-pay or the browser-supported version. As with citizenry, first it bequeath give a chat-like reckon of your transactions. If you feature a loyalty or rewards card for a given store, Google Pay should be able to associate it therewith store. Retailers will also atomic number 4 able to float offers up this chat to boot to the main tab for deals.

Of course, Google Pay leave still do what most Humanoid phone owners utilize it for: simply making payments via NFC tap-to-devote. But Google is besides ramping up other ways to pay with this app. Underneath Mass and Businesses are a couple of new buttons: "Get gas" and "Dictate food."

The food option ties into Google's existing food ordering system that is compatible with enough systems for the company to claim information technology works with over 100,000 restaurants.

You'll also cost able to pay for gas or parking directly in the app instead of punching through the options on the gasoline pump Beaver State parking dole out pay station. Google says it should work in 30,000 locations.

Search

The low gear really new tab in Google Devote is the Explore tab, which is a place where Google will aggregate deals for you.

*Cashback from Google Pay offers goes into a Google Pay account.*

By default, it will retributory surface generic offers here, but you will have the selection to allow Google's algorithms to analyze your transactions in order to customise what offers appear. In what appears to be a nod toward concealment concerns, it will offer you an option to opt in to a three-calendar month "run" of the service. Since it's a liberated Robert William Service to begin with, that "trial" consists primarily of a reminder prompt that leave pop up asking if you deprivation to keep using it.

Google tells me that it will not share any data with these retailers — though, course, if you end up using unity of these offers, that retail merchant will know you did because you're pin money on that point.

All of the deals Google showed me consisted of cashback offers. That's an valuable point because the Cash that comes back will enter upon a Google Bear score. You'll need to transfer it unconscious if you want to deposit it into your swear account.

One very clever feature for these offers is that you simply need to tap "activate," and when you do, you crapper associate the offer with any charge card you have stored in Google Pay. That elbow room, to redeem the offer, you just need to use that mention card, and the rest testament be handled automatically, no need to remember a voucher code.

At length, the Explore tab has a QR and barcode scanner connected the top. The thought here is simple: when you're at a store, you can use it to scan a product and automatically launch a Google Shopping search for it to buy it elsewhere.

Google Pay users wish also be capable to scan each other's personal barcodes to send money to one another without needing to exchange their liaison details.

You can connect Google Pay to your bank to track your spending across multiple accounts — *You derriere link up Google Pay to your bank to track your outlay crosswise multiple accounts.*

Insights

The rightmost tab in Google Pay is the place where the app will furnish a lightweight version of apps like Mint and Simplifi that presents a good deal of your financial information in one place. Google's deal on information technology is titled "Insights," and as you might await, it heavily integrates both research and Google's power to process data with its algorithms.

As you'd expect, search is quite good if you're willing to give it data to index. — *Equally hoped-for, search is quite good if you're compliant to give it information to index.*

After you relate your banking and credit accounts, Insights volition begin to usher you reports of your spending and saving every bit well as upcoming bills. It does this by scanning finished your transactions rather than needing you to manually enter or categorize things. It works with standard checking, savings, debit, and reference cards.

In point of fact, on that point are two more data sources you ass opt to share with Google Pay: your Gmail history and your Google Photos invoice. If you trip out either, Google Pay volition automatically scan both for gross. With Photos, it force out use OCR to mechanically read the receipt and connec it with the correct transaction.

Google Pay bequeath allow you to lookup for terms using unprocessed language. In a demo, Google showed me searches for "Mexican restaurants" and "shirts" that from each one brought up results that wouldn't needfully cause worked by searching through a more traditional banking Beaver State credit card app. You can as wel chain searches in collaboration to narrow down to what you're looking.

And because it's 2020, the Google Pay app will besides feature something consanguineal to Stories in Instagram. Tap on the blue icons at the top of the Insights CRT screen, and you'll get legal brief summaries of fiscal information Google Pay thinks might atomic number 4 useful for you, like future bills, how much money you've sent straightaway to friends, large proceedings, and so on.

In all, Insights doesn't seem to exist as full-faced equally close to of the apps it's planned to vie with, merely it seems Google is indulgent the gadget of having everything in one place will be to a higher degree enough.

Google will let partners offer full online banking right inside the Google Pay app — *Google will let partners offer full online banking right inside the Google Devote app.*

Plex

Lastly, in 2021, Google will launch a spick-and-span banking service called Plex. It will Army of the Righteou you treat basic checking and savings in the app, engaging directly with an online trust. This isn't Google forthwith offering banking services, to be clear. Alternatively, Google leave fundamentally let some Banks use Google Pay as their banking app.

Google has lined up 11 banks and credit unions to partner with, allowing you to pick the one you prefer. Information technology also says that the checking and savings accounts leave have no more monthly fees, overdraft charges, operating theater minimum balances.

Customers will also get a "Goals" feature with basic money direction targets and the power to set up repetition tasks ilk transferring money to a savings business relationship.

Because this is Google, information about Google Pay and Plex leaked ahead of the official announcement today. 9to5Google has already scoured finished the app and found details along Plex. Bank partners include Citi, Stanford Federal Recognition Union, SEFCU, BMO, and BBVA.

The three main screens in Google Pay — *The 3 main screens in Google Pay.*

The changes to Google Pay are very ambitious. If you opt in to all of its features (and thereby trust Google to keep all of your data private and secure), you'll have access to a rich set of substantially-integrative features across various different slipway of looking at your spending and preservation.

The new Google Pay logo.

Image: Google

It also affords Google plenty of opportunities to make money, of course. Though it won't be sharing any data with the ads division, in that respect is nobelium deficit of ways to get commissions or take tiny percentages off transactions. And because Google appears to have many partnerships with retailers, there's likely money in them thar hills — the Search tab expressly labels its offers as "Sponsored."

As a user, you should lone tending about how Google monetizes its products to that extent as it affects your experience and your privacy. Google has quick answers for the obvious questions about what will happen with your financial data. Google's policy is to not share data with other divisions within Google and to not share it with third parties. Your information is encrypted, of course, and interestingly, you can't access this app on the web. It's only if on hand on Android or iPhone — and only when one device at a time to boot. The app will also have a one place for managing all privacy settings for all of the services it offers.

Whether you opt in to whatsoever of Google Pay's new features leave reckon a lot on if you believe Google to have good answers for the non-obvious questions. Atomic number 3 common with services that gather piles of data, those are the questions that matter to more.