Amid a companywide effort to cull money-losing operations, Google is shutting down its Google Wallet debit card, the company confirmed in a blog post today.
The card, which is linked to the user’s Google Wallet
account balance, launched in 2014 in an effort to help people make
purchases in stores and also provide Google with data on what people buy
offline. Sources familiar with the product told Quartz there are
millions of active cards, and Google is telling customers that similar
products are offered by Simple, a digital bank owned by Spanish bank
BBVA, and American Express Serve, the credit card company’s prepaid
division. The card will officially shut down on June 30th.
Google declined to comment beyond the blog post.
The closure comes as parent company
Alphabet has focused on reining in its less profitable divisions. Google
hired Ruth Porat as chief financial officer in May 2015, and the Wall
Street Journal reported in July that the former Morgan Stanley CFO was
leading an internal audit to trim the company’s non-revenue generating
fat. Ex-executives said as recently as 2013 that Google Wallet loses money on each transaction because of the high fees it pays credit card companies.
Google Wallet was
originally intended to make in-store payments with Android devices, but
that function was split into another service, Android Pay, which
launched in 2014 after Apple launched its Apple Pay mobile wallet.
Google Wallet is now focused on peer-to-peer payments, which has gained a bit of traction.
Culled from Quartz
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