Over the past year, Google has been working with banks and credit unions on co-branded checking and saving accounts. Google today is set to announce Plex Accounts, a “new way to bank in Google Pay.”
The new app went live in early access before the official announcement this morning. Those that have already installed and set up the relaunched Google Pay are greeted with an info screen on the new “Banking meets Google” offering.
Google’s primary pitch for Plex Accounts is that it makes money management easy with “all your transactions, automatically organized and searchable in the Google Pay app.” You can search by categories (“groceries” or “gas”), location (“Portland”), and month, while all transactions are labeled.
The very top of the “Plex Account” homepage will show your checking and savings balance. There are quick actions to add money, move money, account details, lock card, and manage account. Next is an activity feed that shows past transactions organized by the two accounts.
Savings, with the ability to create customizable goals, is the other big tentpole. The app features a header image for your specific task with milestones to break up and make the task more manageable. One option is to “round-up transfers” on all purchases to help meet the goal.
Google touts that these accounts are “free to open,” and there are no fees for monthly service, low balance, overdraft, or in-network ATM use.
Plex Accounts will come with Google-designed debit cards that feature the new brand and Pay logo, as well as the partner icon in the bottom-right corner.
Google is first partnering with Citi and the Stanford Credit Union. Nine other partners are listed, with the first Plex Accounts coming in 2021. Waitlists are available today.
Author: Abner Li
Source: 9TO5Google
