MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—Google is venturing into the European paytech market and now has a payments license in Ireland.
According to the register at the Central Bank of Ireland, the company has been granted an authorization to operate in the country’s payments market pursuant to Regulation No. 18 of the European Union Regulations 2018. Reports say this regulation is under Payments Services Directive 2, explained FXcompared.
“Despite the excitement about the announcement, Google has not yet revealed the details of its license, the financial services that it will be providing and whether it will offer affordable overseas transfer rates or not. Google being on the Irish central bank’s register only confirms that the search engine brand can issue and acquire payment transactions,” stated FXcompared.
Google has been working hard to get into Europe’s paytech space. In December 2018, the company was granted an electronic money institution license in Lithuania. The Bank of Lithuania said that Google has the authorization to redeem and issue money sent electronically. The company‘s Lithuanian license also allows it to provide payment services to its customers, FXcompared said.
“There is no confirmation if users will be able to transfer money internationally through Google as expansion goals have not yet been revealed. There is no news if Google is interested in getting a piece of the remittance market either. However, observers note that it might follow Facebook’s footsteps. Facebook’s rumored entry into the remittance industry has gotten Facebook users excited, according to reports. Google’s move to get a license in Ireland comes two years after social networking site Facebook was granted an e-money license from the national bank,” FXcompared said.