Google Gets Into Credit Cards

Google Gets Into Credit Cards?

By: Doug Caverly
2006-08-03

As you thumb through your wallet five years from now, you might see some familiar names. Visa and Mastercard, for example. You may also see Google. The company purchased the domain name googlemastercard.com recently, igniting all sorts of speculation about what they might do with it.

The move could indicate a Google debit, credit, and/or ATM card. The original report of the acquisition appears to have come from Seo Wise, and although there's not really any additional information on that page, there is an interesting piece of speculation: "I wounder -sic- if the card could be for Adsense account holders too."

Posts in a thread on the Digital Point Forums also support this theory. The response was mostly optimistic. "Amazing, I would love it - This would mean that Google is headed more twords -sic- the 'e-wallet' sort of approach, rather than just the merchant account stuffs," wrote "Travis."

"redz" went a step further. "i think this would kill paypal. First Google Checkout now Google ATM Card, we will all get overpowered," he wrote. There were some forum members who didn't have quite that level of confidence in the news, however.

"teru1987" pointed out, "It's just a domain name. Google also has Googleporn.com." (He, or she, is right - it's on Neil Patel's list of domain names owned by Google.) The company could simply be staking out that territory so that no one else can snatch it up.

Still, there's a real possibility that Google could use googlemastercard.com to launch a new product. And why not? Google has done, is doing, or seems to be planning to do just about everything else.

Tag: Google

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About the Author:
Doug is a staff writer for SearchNewz, WebProNews, InternetFinancialNews, and SecurityProNews.