With the debut of Google Wallet, is incorporating virtual currency next on the search giant’s agenda?
“Some think Google, at some point, will want to think about, or have to think about, whether stored value mechanisms are an advantage,” speculates Mobile Marketing and Technology. “At that point, Google might find itself wanting to investigate virtual currency operations of some sort… Issuing banks make their money on transactions, so Google would have to figure out how to deploy virtual currency to its advantage, while not disrupting an issuing bank’s business of earning fees from transactions.”
Yet the site also points out that pursuing virtual currency may lead to banking regulations that Google may not want to tackle at this point in time. Currently, Google has only partnered with networks (Visa, MasterCard, etc.), which Mobile Marketing and Technology thinks is indicator that Google does not want to go up against issuing banks. Click here to read the full op-ed.
