Skip to footer

With Pony Express, Google wants users to pay bills through Gmail

A rumored new service from Google will let you receive and pay your bills through Gmail.

|
Google
Gmail.

The Pony Express marked a new era in postal services in the 1800s, as riders and their steeds galloped miles to create new links between cities in the east and new frontiers in the west.

Now it appears Google is taking a cue from these information pioneers of the past.

Google is developing a new service that would allow users to pay bills through Gmail, instead of through separate companies’ websites or the postal service, according to a report by Re/Code. The project, currently called Pony Express, would allow Google into yet another arena of users’ lives, potentially opening doors to more financial services.

According to documents procured by Re/Code, the service would compile all your monthly bills into one folder on Gmail. At the moment, it appears this would be done by a third-party service – no word on if Google will partner with any telecoms or financial institutions just yet. Then a payment option hooked up to your bank cards would allow you to pay those bills right then and there, or even split a bill with another Gmail user. There are also options to upload a photo of physical mail to be saved for later, as well as an option to contact customer service for a company.

Though paperless billing is nothing new, this is one of the first services that could potentially bring all bills to one place for easy and quick payment. And it comes on the heels of a huge year for mobile payment. Apple equipped all new iPhone 6 models with Apple Pay, Facebook recently introduced a feature where friends can send each other money, and Google Wallet will soon be installed on nearly all Android phones.

The big issue, as with nearly all tech innovations, is privacy and security, which is still a major concern for consumers. Google seems to be already thoughtful of that: in the current stage of Pony Express, a third party will authenticate users to safeguard personal information. Mashable’s Lance Ulanoff points out it is in Google’s interest to be extremely cautious when dipping into finance.

“Many people still put checks in the mail or visit the bank directly to enact payments. They already distrust systems reading their mail. Would they actually trust Google to take that a step further and make payments on their behalf?” he writes. “For companies like Google, though, the even bigger and even more universal market of bill payments is too big too ignore. Google will do everything it can to make Pony Express attractive to everyone and will work overtime to gain trust so they can access your bank accounts, creditors and the companies providing you with goods and services — even if only as a middle man.”

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to With Pony Express, Google wants users to pay bills through Gmail
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/2015/0325/With-Pony-Express-Google-wants-users-to-pay-bills-through-Gmail
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe