Last week, Google launched its latest offering Google Wallet . With this comes a huge opportunity to create value for customers, but also poses the question: do consumers trust the Google brand enough to give up their financial information?
Google is known for delivering superior value with everything that it offers, from its initial function as a search engine, to its recent jump into the social media sector with Google+. It has found a way to offer us products that enhance our lives (how often do you open a real map vs. a Google Map when you’re headed into the unknown?) without ever asking us for a penny. They’ve built a lasting relationship with consumers by personalizing our searches, targeting their advertisements, and offering us deals based on what we as individuals have been doing online. This customization of the online experience has allowed Google to provide us with the information we want, when we want. But truth be told, Google has always had a dark privacy cloud hanging over head. From the eeriness of personalized ads to a slew of Google Street View privacy concerns, people may be giving up their information in exchange for the value Google offers, but does this have a limit? Is the value of a quick and convenient payment method worth handing over our financial data to the company that is increasingly beginning to seem like a modern day Big Brother? Given the way we hand out our personal information to Google like candy (how fast did you jump on Google+?), I think that their brand will be able to brave this storm. Google has somehow perfected the art of offering enough value to cloud our security judgements. An act of marketing genius or an act of delivering great values to customers? It’s all the same thing!
To top it all off, they’ve got the first mover’s advantage, which will enable them to attract customers before more trustworthy brands, such as well established banks, move into the market. Well played, Google.