Google reportedly ditches plans to add bank account service to its users

Google will not be adding banking services anymore after scrapping its initial plan to do so. It was reported that the move came almost two years after the tech giant first mentioned its plans to offer banking services to its users.

It was added that the decision to abort the banking plans were aborted several months after an executive leading the project had left the company. It was in early 2019 when Google revealed it will allow users to open their bank accounts using the Google Pay app and this was supposed to be launched last year.

At that time, it was said that the project will be carried out in partnership with Citigroup and Stanford Federal Credit Union. The deal was supposed to begin this year and the project has been named Google Plex checking and savings account.

Google told CNBC that this service has no monthly fees or minimum balance requirement. What’s more, those who will avail of the service can also opt to request for a physical debit card that they can use for transactions. If the project pushed through, this debit card would have operated on Mastercard’s network.

In any case, it was reported that aside from the departure of the key executive handling this project, another reason why Google folded its banking plan is the series of missed deadlines. CNBC stated that the company’s spokesman confirmed the report that they have abandoned the bank account offering.

“Our work with our partners has made it extremely clear that there’s consumer demand for simple, seamless and secure digital payments for online and in-store transactions,” the spokesman told the publication via email. “We’re updating our approach to focus primarily on delivering digital enablement for banks and other financial services providers rather than us serving as the provider of these services.”

Finally, Forbes added that the bank account opening via Google Pay app has been delayed a lot of times. It has also worked on redesigning the app already but in the end, they have made the decision to just call off the project.