It was speculated for Google to make its entry into the wealth management space in India. Internet giant Google is all ready to allow its Indian users to buy gold on its mobile payments app Google Pay.
To make Google Pay even more useful, you can now buy and sell gold, securely from your phone, right within Google Pay! – Google Blog post
This is specifically for the Indian users to purchase gold at prevailing market prices, maintain gold balance virtually and redeem at a later stage as gold coins or cash. This move marks the entry of Google Pay into wealth management services. Launched as Tez in September 2017, and rebranded as Google Pay a year later, the app currently allows peer-to-peer and peer-to-merchant payments.
As per Google, the gold transaction is backed by MMTC-PAMP India, the country’s only LBMA accredited gold refinery from where users will be getting 99.99% assured 24 karat gold, right within the app. Gold bought through Google Pay will be sourced from and maintained in physical form by MMTC-PAMP.
To activate the gold account, users will have to complete the prescribed know-your-customer (KYC) formalities. Once done, they can purchase virtual gold units at the current market price using Google Pay app.
Such an initiative is created for millions of Indian users who buy gold during their auspicious occasions, whether it is “Akshaya Tritiya, Dhanteras or Diwali.”
