The big news out of Google today has to be their announcement of a new Google Pay experience that turns their payment platform into more than just a transactional space. Going forward, Google Pay will let you send and receive money, pay for goods in stores and online, and find all the rewards your favorite outlets offer. But you know what it does that we can’t serve enough praise upon Google for? It gives us another messaging option. Hell yeah, man. The more ways to talk to people in separate spaces that we’ll need to keep track of, the better.
I know this is such a silly running joke about how Google has no idea what to do with messaging and that everything they make has some sort of messaging component, but they really did it again. The new Google Pay certainly offers some new stuff, like the financial profile area with future Plex banking support, but one of the biggest items they are pushing is all of the messaging you can do within it.
Google hopes you’ll use messaging in Google Pay to chat about toilet paper and buying Thai food with friends. From within those conversations, you’ll be able to split bills with roomies, request cash from your cheap friend who promises to always “get you back the next time,” and throw up 🙏 when all goes well. I really just want to use it to drop a 🤫 to anyone who dares ask, “What the hell is this new app?” that I keep spamming them on.
Could this messaging area be useful as an ongoing bill conversation for those who regularly split such things? Sure, brother. Could those conversations be just as easily carried out in the actual messaging app you already use to have these conversations? Don’t tell Google.
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