Google's Next Big Play Is Personal Banking

With many tech companies dipping their toes in the personal finance pool, it won't be long before we see Google attempt to do the same. Google confirmed today that it will soon begin offering checking accounts to its user base. Internally, this new service is code-named Cache, and it seems the big G has plans to launch it at some point in 2020.

Caesar Sengupta, who serves as Google's VP and General Manager of payments and next billion users, confirmed the company's financial ambitions to The Wall Street Journal today. Google will apparently team up with Citigroup and Stanford Federal Credit Union to offer these checking accounts.

Sengupta pointed out that Google isn't diving head first into finance like some other companies. "Out approach is going to be to partner deeply with banks and the financial system," he said. "It may be the slightly longer path, but it's more sustainable."

Google's competitors, however, have decided to hit the ground running when offering financial services to their customers. Apple, of course, partnered with Goldman Sachs earlier this year to launch a credit card, while Facebook is looking into launching its own cryptocurrency. Offering checking accounts may seem like smart potatoes compared to cryptocurrencies and credit cards, but it's clear Google wants to ramp up its finance offerings over time instead of laying on the gas pedal right at the start.

In any case, Sengupta doesn't yet know if Google's checking accounts will charge fees, but he did say that customers would be able to access those accounts through Google Wallet. He also leaves the door open for Google partnering with more banks in the future beyond Citigroup and Stanford Federal Credit Union. We'll see what happens from here and we'll keep an eye out for the official reveal of this service once we're into 2020.