Image: AFP/Denis Charlet
In a move similar to its big-tech competitor Apple, Google is purportedly developing its own physical and virtual debit card, according to a collection of leaked images given to TechCrunch late last week, Friday.
Future customers with the smart Google Card will be able to make payments online, with their phone, or with the actual card which can allegedly be co-branded with different banks like CITI and Stanford Federal Credit Union.
The associated bank account will be able to be monitored on a complementary mobile application on which owners can track their purchases and balance, and even lock their account.
If all goes according to the company’s plans, this card would become the foundational payment form on the Google Pay platform. Such a product and service has the potential to swing open the door to the company becoming a major fintech business which, considering Google’s current ecosystem of popularly used apps, services, and hardware products that collect data on consumer behavior, could be a smooth transition.
On the other hand, if such a card is received by the public in a similar fashion as Facebook’s jump into digital currency, Libra cryptocurrency, Google could face economically damaging scrutiny along with severe customer distrust. JB
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