Google Pay, a service of US-based technology firm Google, recently partnered with money transfer companies Western Union and Wise to allow Google Pay users in the US to send money to individuals in India and Singapore. The service does not allow payments from other countries to the US or payments to or from businesses. However, Google reportedly views the service as a pilot project, with an eye on expanding by December 2021 to 80 countries via Wise and 200 countries via Western Union.
After a one-month promotional period, Wise will charge a fee for each transfer. While Western Union will not charge fees, the company makes a profit on the exchange rate between currencies.
Western Union, founded in the US in 1851, provides money transfer, communications and wireless financial services through approximately 550,000 agent locations in 200 countries and territories as of 2019. During the third quarter of 2020, the firm moved a total of USD 27 billion via consumer-to-consumer transactions.
Wise, founded as TransferWise in the UK in 2010, provides money transfers and multi-currency debit cards in 55 currencies. As of 2021, Wise moves GBP 4.5 billion (USD 6.4 billion) monthly for approximately 10 million customers in 65 countries.
Google is a technology company headquartered in the US state of California, providing online services such as online search, translation, word processing and cloud computing services. As of 2021, Google’s services are available in 219 countries.
By Sophie Fiala, Research Associate
Sources and Additional Resources
TechCrunch article
https://techcrunch.com/2021/05/11/google-pay-us-users-can-now-send-money-to-india-and-singapore/
Google Pay homepage
https://pay.google.com/
Google description
https://about.google/
Western Union homepage
https://www.westernunion.com/
Western Union October 2020 report
https://s21.q4cdn.com/100551446/files/doc_financials/2020/q3/3Q-Earnings-Release-FINAL-Western-Union.pdf
Wise homepage
https://wise.com/
World Bank press release on remittances worldwide
https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2019/04/08/record-high-remittances-sent-globally-in-2018
Previous MicroCapital article on Western Union
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-in-response-to-covid-19-western-union-transitions-to-home-delivery-of-money-transfers-in-jordan/
Did you know that MicroCapital publishes the MicroCapital Monitor newspaper each month? Find more at https://www.microcapital.org/products-page/.
Similar Posts:
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Money Transfer Firms Suspend Fees for Payments to Libya, Morocco in Response to Disasters
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Ualá App Offers Saving Account Paying 9% Interest in Mexico
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: African Fintech Nala Expands Remittance Service to EU, Launches Business Platform
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IsDB, La Poste Tunisienne to Replicate Digital Financial Services via Postal Service in Djibouti
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Futu Expanding Digital Investment, Financial Education Platform to Malaysia
