Google is adding a bunch of stuff to Google Pay to make it a full-blown money app

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

Google Pay got a huge redesign yesterday, bringing a whole host of new features to the contactless payment processor. No longer is the app limited to tap-to-pay or peer-to-peer payments, turning it into a one-stop-shop for all of your online payment needs.

The redesign is on both the Android and iOS versions, so everyone will get all of the new features, at the same time. That includes a Venmo-like system to send money to friends and family, including yet another messaging feature. At least that’s different from how Facebook crams everything into Messenger, I guess.

The app now has three tabs, each with multiple features:

• Pay: Holds both peer-to-peer payment options and also your history from using tap-to-pay
• Explore: Think of this as your new deals and discounts page
• Insights: For the truly brave, connecting your bank accounts and credit accounts to Google will give you a searchable overview of your finances

The really cool thing though, is that Google is leveraging all of its AI smarts to automatically add things like receipts into your Insights page. Once you let Google Pay roam through your other Google services, it can find receipts from Gmail or even from your Google Photos account, and add them to your financial tracking. It even semantically knows the categories, so if it sees a restaurant receipt it’ll add it to the Food tracking category automatically.

Oh, and in case you thought there was something missing. It is, but will not be 2021, as Google will be partnering with some banks to offer fully online checking and savings accounts, all inside Google Pay. Google calls this “Plex,” which might cause some confusion with the popular digital content management system of the same name.

The only downside to all of these new features? Google hasn’t said if anyone outside of the US will get them at this time.

What do you think? Are you interested in this expanded version of Google Pay? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Here’s another thing Google is killing off – free unlimited Google Photos storage
• Google Stadia’s Family Sharing feature is finally starting to roll out to users
• Apple is reducing its App Store fee for apps that make under $1 million a year
• YouTube will start showing ads on small channels without giving creators a cut of the profits

Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.