According to a Yahoo Finance report, Google Wallet is now just that little bit more safe. Yahoo Finance states that Google Wallet balances are now FDIC-insured, and that Google does this by storing Wallet balances in FDIC-insured banks.
Google Wallet now insured by FDIC
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insures funds for banking institutions up to $250,000. As Yahoo Finance states, services like Wallet, Paypal, or Venmo are currently considered “non-banking institutions”, which means they are not legally required to be federally insured, and Paypal and Venmo currently aren’t.
The report states that Google Wallet’s user agreement says that balances are not FDIC-insured, but that “a Google spokesperson confirmed in a statement to Yahoo Finance that its current policy has changed”.
It seems though that Google Wallet’s FDIC insurance won’t mean much to users, except that it provides some extra security in case the worst should happen – and the worst basically means that Google goes bankrupt, which is unlikely to happen. Ultimately, it’s reassuring to know that Google is making Wallet balances safer for its users.
With Google Wallet and other mobile payments services (such as Apple Pay) gradually gaining acceptance and being used in more and more places, proper insurance seems like a decidedly good idea.
SOURCE: Yahoo Finance
Larry Banks is a keen follower of technology and finance. He has worked for a variety of online publications, writing about a diverse range of topics including mobile networks, patents, and Internet video delivery technologies.