Gmoney: How Google Checkout Could Merge with Google Finance
August 14, 2007 at 12:08 am by Ehab BandarIf making information easily accessible and useful is Google’s mantra, is an online personal financial management (PFM) tool akin to Quicken very far away?
The incentive for Google is tremendous, given the value in transaction-based advertising. Here are some clues as to why PFM is closer than you think: At the moment, the company offers Google Checkout, a centralized view of online transactions made through the service, and Google Finance, a centralized view of investment activities (plus an array of research options). Given that transaction activity is just another piece of information, it would make sense that Google is eyeing this space.
Here’s how I see it working: Google extends Google Finance to support the ability to download (or more importantly, synch up) transaction data from other financial institutions. This data would reside as a separate navigation element next to the existing “Portfolios” link, called something like “Bank Accounts.” Within this new section, all available account balances and transaction activity would be accessible. Each transaction could become more meaningful by leveraging Google tools to label, star, and organize the data — today, much of the data in online banking is cryptic, machine-speak. In addition, individual users (not just merchants) could send and receive money through a consumer version of Google Checkout (Gmoney?) using only the user’s email address or Google account username.
The same charting technology used so well on Google Analytics and Finance could be leveraged to visualize, report, and analyze one’s financial data. Custom alerts and news would be integrated throughout to provide real-time insight and control. Even paying bills (both local and national) can be integrated using the power of the Google network to attract vendors to the service. With Google Calendar, one can easily schedule and track when payments are due.
It’s not hard to imagine such a scenario happening if not for the extra baggage that comes with personal financial data. Such a tool raises the ire of many security- and privacy-minded people. How will the information be used? Is it secure enough? Will my privacy be compromised? This also raises the question of how much trust and information does one place not only in Google but in any online company.
The answer might just depend on a combination of sophisticated, multi-factor security measures and features that are impossible to conceive let alone achieve without the Internet. And Google is perhaps in the best position of any company to do just that.
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April 25th, 2008 at 1:34 PM
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