Per a Bloomberg report, tech giant Google will expand its payment features with Bitcoin. The company is trying to top its competition in terms of online services. Therefore, it has been trying to step up its game with Bill Ready as President of Commerce and the recently hired former PayPal executive Arnold Goldberg as Payment Division Chief while it consolidates partnerships to achieve that goal.
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The tech giant partnered with Coinbase Global and BitPay to enable a feature that will let users store Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Thus, people will be able to use their crypto holdings to pay for their purchases as if they were using fiat currencies.
The tech giant, according to the article, has failed with its goals for its Google Pay feature. Except for India, in other parts of the world, the payment service has failed to “gain traction” and has been “struggling”. Therefore, their need to add more features to their shopping service.
According to Ready, this initiative will let people leverage “the entire array of financial services out there”. The integration with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies seems like a logical step due to their increase in adoption levels, and their accessibility across the world. Ready said:
We’re not a bank — we have no intention of being a bank. Some past efforts, at times, would unwittingly wade into those spaces. Our aim is to help create connections. We’re not a conflicted party.
Bitcoin To Onboard Google’s Next Billion Users?
Per Bloomberg, Ready and Goldberg worked in PayPal until the former joined Google to supervise their payments division. Now, Ready has brought in Goldberg to become the vice president and general manager for a new Google project called Next Billion Users.
Data shared by the report claims Google’s wallet, to be integrated with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, recorded around 150 million monthly active users worldwide. However, Apple’s payment alternative has created an obstacle for Google’s ambitions “even on devices that run its Android operating system”.
In addition, other companies’ payment methods have been contributing to making Google’s payment feature “largely a failure”, according to Bloomberg’s report. Expert Tom Noyes claimed only 4% of every non-cash or contactless payment in the United States relies on Google’s payment method.
Therefore, the tech titan will focus its attention on making their wallet more “comprehensive”, as Bloomberg said. In addition to its Bitcoin and crypto feature, the wallet will let users buy digital tickers, airline passes, and add a vaccine passport for COVID-19.
On Bitcoin and the crypto market, Google’s as President of Commerce said:
Crypto is something we pay a lot of attention to. As user demand and merchant demand evolves, we’ll evolve with it.
Remains to be seen if Google’s crypto initiative will be met with a similar response from Apple or any of its competitors. A Bitcoin integration with Apple Pay and Google Pay will open the door for millions of people to have access to crypto payment capabilities.
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As of press time, BTC’s price trades at $41,871 with sideways movement in 24-hours.
