Google is planning its own foray into world of financial services with leaked images showing the firm is working on a debit card to rival the Apple Card.
A TechCrunch report and accompanying images seem to show a physical debit card for the Google Pay platform is on the way.
According to the report, the company is planning to offer bank accounts that would enable holders to make purchases on the new Visa-based Google Card or by using contactless payments where available.
It would mean Google Pay would no longer solely rely on users linking up their existing banking accounts with the app, but with an account provided by Google itself.
Related: Apple Card – everything you need to know
The site’s sources say the account will work in conjunction with a new mobile banking app that’ll offer access to traditional functionality like monitoring purchases, checking and transferring balances and locking cards.
According to the report, Google isn’t going this alone and will be partnering with companies in the industry like CITI and the Stanford Federal Credit Union.
The report also shows screengrabs from the companion app, which display the account balance and recent activity. Another offers a shot of an individual purchase, the amount, time, date and a map showing where the purchase took place. Helpfully the card shows a phone number for the store in question, in case there’s a problem with the purchase.
Google was asked about its plans by TechCrunch and didn’t dispute the report, so it does seem as this is happening. Maybe we’ll see the announcement at the online-only Google I/O conference taking place next month?
However, given how we’re spending so little time outside these days, now might not be the right time to launch a physical debit card that can be used in stores. Stores… remember those?
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
