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Google’s pivot away from bank accounts shows why finance is a tough industry for tech giants

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Google Pay logo displayed on a smartphone screen

Jakub Porzycki | NurPhoto via Getty Images

One tech company has made the decision to help banks instead of taking on their heads.

GoogleIt is shutteringFast two years has passed since the creation of its bank account products announcingPlans to conquer the retail finance sector with ambition A key element: The head of the new business. Bill ReadyAccording to someone who knew the matter, he decided that he would rather create a digital banking and payment ecosystem than compete with banks.

Bank executives and investors shuddered for the past several years when tech companies disclosed their plans to get into finance. It’s not hard to see why: Technology giants can access hundreds of millions of people and their data, and have a history of transforming media industries such as advertising and media.

However, the truth has been less disruptive. Amazon had been a disruptor. reportedly exploring bank accounts in 2018, the project has yet to materialize. Uber reined in its fintech ambitions last year. Facebook was made to rebrand its crypto project amid a series of setbacks.

Google spokeswoman, announcing that the company is changing its approach and focusing primarily on digital enablement for banks/other financial service providers instead of us being the provider.

Google is owned by Alphabet parent company. This could allow banks to offer more secure options for online shopping, such as single-use tokens or virtual cards. According to a person who knows the company, but declined to identify themselves speaking on business strategy, this is what they believe. These methods reduce fraud and protect credit card numbers.

According to Google’s Friday research note, it may not have been worth threatening current or potential customers with its different businesses including cloud computing. Wells FargoMike Mayo, a banking analyst

Google is a company that has been growing in recent years. funneledThe company has been able to add more resources into its cloud business. However, it is still behind. Amazon and Microsoft in market share. However, it has made steady gains under cloud boss Thomas Kurian, who, along with Google CEO Sundar Pichai, has repeatedly touted financial services as a target in terms of customers they hope to attract.

“Banks are worried about disintermediation,And I think it’s likely that Google executives were getting signals that banks weren’t on board with what Google was going to do,” said Peter Wannemacher, a Forrester Research analyst who advises banks on digital efforts. They believed that selling to banks would yield greater profits than selling directly to customers.

He stated that banks could be the customer-facing entity, which may lead to more scrutiny from regulatory agencies and Congress. The public already has concerns about the reach of technology firms, he said.

Wannemacher explained that financial services are a challenging space to be in. It’s something everyone knows, however it can often be more difficult and complicated than they expect.

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