Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Google is getting into mobile banking through a new partnership announced on Monday with a total of eight US-based banks, including the US division of the Bank of Montreal (BMO) and BBVA. The bank accounts will exist entirely within Google Pay, with customers able to access checking accounts handled digitally on the front end by Google while partner banks handle the infrastructure, FDIC insurance, and other backend technology.
It’s unclear at this time if customers will have access to physical debit cards issued through Google or its partners, but the banking feature is slated to go live sometime in 2021. News of Google’s mobile banking plans, known internally as the “Cache” project, first surfaced last year, when the company formally…