Technology

Google is seeking to digitize the Brazilian economy through online payments

In the next few months, Google will enable payments through credit and debit cards with the Google Pay app

Google intents to implement a prepaid payment method in Brazil as it probably will expand Google Pay activities across the country. Photo: Shutterstock

With the rise of fintechs, it should come as no surprise that the payments and financial landscape is going through several shifts – especially in emerging markets, where there’s still room for plenty of disruption.

Drawing investments and attracting millions of consumers, Nubank, Banco Inter, Neon, and even more traditional players such as Santander are all betting heavily on the market’s financial shifts. But there are other firms besides the fintechs paying close attention to this stage: big players. With technology and investment efforts, Facebook’s Libra, Globo Group and now Google are betting on new payment features.

Following recent upgrades such as allowing Chrome online payment integration with Google Accounts and enabling the Google Assistant to make money transfers for consumers in Mexico, now the tech giant is laying eyes on the Brazilian online payment scenario: Google will work alongside the country’s Central Bank and other financial institutions in order to “help digitize the economy in a fast and safe way,” said Caesar Sengupta to the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo.

Sengupta, who is General Manager of Payments and VP leading the Next Billion Users (NBU) initiative at Google, was in São Paulo this week and talked about the company’s plans to allow payments via multiple cards with Google Pay. Future plans might also include offline payment methods, as further stated the executive.


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