Google Pay Launches International Money Transfers With Wise And Western Union

Google Pay users in the US can now transfer money to app customers in India, Singapore, with plans to expand to the 80 countries available via Wise, and 200 via Western Union by end of 2021

Alphabet Inc's Google has launched international money transfer partnerships with remittances firms Wise and Western Union Co for users of its U.S. payments app, the companies said on Tuesday. Google Pay users in the United States can now transfer money to app customers in India and Singapore, with plans to expand to the 80 countries available via Wise, and 200 via Western Union by the end of the year. Google's foray in the $470 billion remittance market, marks a further step by the technology company to expand its financial services offering, ramping up competition in the digital payments sector. London-based Wise was launched in 2011 with the aim of making international money transfers cheaper and easier, while Western Union remains a market leader in remittances, with a sprawling global network of physical locations. Their partnership with Google Pay, which has 150 million users in 40 countries, comes as the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a boom in online payments, but an estimated drop in overall remittances flows.