Gmail now lets you attach real money with your emails
Google has announced that Gmail will now allow users to attach some real money to their emails and share it with contacts. Adding money in your outgoing mail is super easy - just start composing mail, tap on the attachments icon and then choose 'Send money' option. Enter the amount you want to send. Gmail will then hook into your Google Wallet and charge your default payment method. The entire process is very similar to adding a document or media file attachment.
The feature is currently available exclusively to the users based in the United States. Google highlights that the receiver need not have Gmail address or Google Wallet app installed. Google confirms that there will not be any fees or commissions involved in the transactions. The feature also lets you request money from your contact.
Receiver of the money can choose to send the money directly to their bank account. It's obvious that Google is going after services like PayPal, which popularized the concept of sending and receiving money via email. Note that Google isn't the only one in the market that's offering this service. Facebook already allows money exchange via its messenger, Snapcash lets you transact on Snapchat and the Chinese WeChat is already quite big in the mobile payments domain.
Ability to do monetary transactions from within Gmail promises to add convenience. Users will be saved from adding multiple apps to do cash transactions and there are no charges for using the service. Google says users can also split bills while paying for dinner or buying a drink for your friend. That said, whether users will actually open Gmail to split bills is something that looks very unlikely.
Google did not mention whether the feature will be launched outside of the United States. Google has had the Wallet integrated with Gmail for a while; but did not introduce the feature until now. Also, the feature is available only on Android for now and there's no mention of the feature coming to iOS.
Source: <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2017/03/14/you-can-now-send-and-request-money-in-gmail-on-android/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">You can now send and request money in Gmail on Android • TechCrunch</a>
The feature is currently available exclusively to the users based in the United States. Google highlights that the receiver need not have Gmail address or Google Wallet app installed. Google confirms that there will not be any fees or commissions involved in the transactions. The feature also lets you request money from your contact.
Receiver of the money can choose to send the money directly to their bank account. It's obvious that Google is going after services like PayPal, which popularized the concept of sending and receiving money via email. Note that Google isn't the only one in the market that's offering this service. Facebook already allows money exchange via its messenger, Snapcash lets you transact on Snapchat and the Chinese WeChat is already quite big in the mobile payments domain.
Ability to do monetary transactions from within Gmail promises to add convenience. Users will be saved from adding multiple apps to do cash transactions and there are no charges for using the service. Google says users can also split bills while paying for dinner or buying a drink for your friend. That said, whether users will actually open Gmail to split bills is something that looks very unlikely.
Google did not mention whether the feature will be launched outside of the United States. Google has had the Wallet integrated with Gmail for a while; but did not introduce the feature until now. Also, the feature is available only on Android for now and there's no mention of the feature coming to iOS.
Source: <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2017/03/14/you-can-now-send-and-request-money-in-gmail-on-android/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">You can now send and request money in Gmail on Android • TechCrunch</a>
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