Google Adds New BNPL and Remittance Tools to Online Payments

Google unveiled a series of payments updates aimed at online shoppers.

The new features are meant to give consumers “added choice, convenience and value — whether it’s for an everyday purchase, a big-ticket item or an international money transfer,” according to a Tuesday (Aug. 12) company blog post.

Among the offerings is an expansion of Google’s pay-over-time options, which lets shoppers in the United States choose from buy now, pay later (BNPL) providers like Affirm and Zip through autofill on Chrome in a few clicks. Klarna and Afterpay are set to be added soon, the post said.

“And to make global money transfers easier, we’re testing a simple and transparent experience on Wallet online and Search to help people get straightforward fee and exchange rate information with remittance providers like Ria Money Transfer, Xe and Wise, and send funds with them,” the post said. “Soon, you’ll be able to access this feature on Wallet online or by searching for any currency exchange rate on Google.”

Lastly, Google said U.S. consumers will see reward details for more credit cards — expanded now to over 100 — in autofill on Chrome to help them understand which card can provide them with the best benefits for their eCommerce purchases.

Meanwhile, consumers are gravitating toward merchants that offer them their preferred payment options.

“For merchants, it’s more critical than ever to make sure that they are offering end users the payment methods they want to use, when they want to use them,” PYMNTS wrote in April.

The PYMNTS Intelligence report “What Consumers Do When Their Go-To Credit Choice Is Unavailable” found that 37% of consumers purchasing essentials would most likely use a different payment method if the one they preferred was not available, while a third of shoppers would skip the purchase.

The numbers were similar for nonessential expenses. More than a third of shoppers most often said they would likely skip or delay the purchases, while 32% of consumers said they would use another credit product.

“When shoppers cannot use their selected credit product, their backup plan depends on what they value most in their initial payment method choice,” the report found.

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