Report: Google Will Offer Checking Accounts

Google plans to offer checking accounts run by Citigroup and a credit union, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

Big tech companies have been pushing into other arenas such as finance and health care to gain more access to consumer data. The push comes at a time when regulators are looking into privacy practices by firms including Google and Facebook so the deals are likely to be scrutinized.

The project is expected to launch next year, a Google executive told The Journal. The financial institutions’ brands, not Google’s, will front the accounts.

Google declined to comment. It’s not Google’s first foray into finance. It launched Google Wallet and Google Pay, which let users store credit and debit card information and use them to make mobile and digital payments.