https://www.businessinsider.com/google-will-begin-offering-checking-accounts-2019-11
Google is planning to break into banking with new checking account offerings
Google will begin offering checking accounts to consumers next year as part of its push into financial services, The Wall Street Journal reports. The product, currently code-named "Cache," will be run by Citigroup and small lender Stanford Federal Credit Union.
Google has made forays into financial services in the past, with mixed results: It launched Google Wallet in 2011 but shut down the associated Google Wallet card in 2016 (and has been rolling Google Wallet into Google Pay). It also ran a site to compare financial products like auto insurance and credit cards between 2015 and 2016 but shuttered it after about a year.
To launch a successful checking account, Google will need to incorporate features that stand out and encourage direct deposits. While Google has a sizeable enough addressable base — 46% of smartphones in the US run on Android, per Statcounter — and some consumers would probably be interested in a Google checking account, the mixed results of its past financial services plays suggests that an "if you build it they will come" approach won't be enough.
Instead, Google will need to drive signups either by integrating innovative features to create an exemplary customer experience or by using incentives, such as a signup bonus. And in order to get the account to contribute to its bottom line, it will need to go a step further and incentivize users to deposit their salaries in the Google checking account and make it their primary account, through offerings like early access to wages or overdraft cushions. If successful, the checking account could embolden Google to push further into financial services, for example by also debuting a savings account or credit card.
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