Google Pay users in US now able to send money to Singapore, India

Google Pay users living in the US can now send money to other users in Singapore and India, although users in the two Asian markets will not do the same. Facilitated through partnerships with Western Union and Wise, the service will expand to more than 200 markets by the end of the year.

Google payments engineering director Patrick Teo said: “Our world is increasingly interconnected, and our payment must flow evolve to reflect the cross-border nature of our daily transactions.

With remittance flows in Southeast Asia poised to reach $ 35 billion by 2025, this new integration with Western Union and Wise on Google Pay provides a convenient and secure solution to help users connect and play with family members, friends and business in Singapore. We hope to expand this feature to more users to facilitate payments and make the world much smaller. ”

Google Pay users in US now able to send money to Singapore, India

Google, however, did not provide a timeline, if any, for when its digital wallet users living outside of its local market could send money abroad.

To send money across your border, users in the US will need to find the recipient in Singapore or India via their phone number or email linked to their Google Pay account. Then they hit “Pay” and choose Western Union or Wise to send the amount they want.

In a post-Tuesday, Google Pay product manager Viola Gauci said that nearly $ 700 million is sent annually worldwide to people in their home countries. Citing statistics from Mastercard, Gauci noted 73% of people sent money abroad regularly, and 38% stated a higher share of international payments in the past year.

He added that by the end of 2021, the cross-border service for Google Pay users in the US would be further expanded to more than 200 markets through Western Union and more than 80 markets through Wise.

Google last November revamped its digital wallet in the US, launching a new Google Pay app design for Android and Apple iOS users. The American tech giant then said the redesign focused on simplicity, security and privacy, and partnerships between various services, including financial.

ZDNet asked if Google had plans to expand the cross-border payment service to Google Pay users outside of its home market and between users within the Asian region. Questions were also asked about the number of active Google Pay users in this region and the volume of transactions processed. This article will be updated when responses arrive.

Singapore and Thailand last month signed a bilateral agreement that allowed users from both nations to transfer funds using the recipient’s mobile phone number.

The pact established connectivity between Singapore’s PayNow and Thailand’s PromptPay peer-to-peer payment platforms to allow fund transfers of up to SG $ 1,000 ($ 753.4) or THB 25,000 ($ 793.96). Considered the first of its kind globally, the agreement resulted from “years of extensive collaboration” between the central banks of the two countries.