Close
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Cloud
    • Mobile
    • Storage

    Gmail Now Lets Users Send Cash Using Google Wallet

    By
    Todd R. Weiss
    -
    May 17, 2013
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Google’s Gmail service is now making it simpler to send money to others by sending “cash” in an email message.

      The new capability is possible because Google has integrated its Google Wallet payment services with Gmail, allowing users to safely and securely send up to $10,000 per transaction to another person, according to a May 15 post by Travis Green, product manager for Google Wallet, on the Google Commerce Blog.

      “Paying back your friends is now as simple as sending an email, whether you’re chipping in for lunch or reimbursing your roommate for your share of the rent,” wrote Green. “Google Wallet is now integrated with Gmail, so you can quickly and securely send money to friends and family directly within Gmail—even if they don’t have a Gmail address. It’s free to send money if your bank account is linked to Google Wallet or using your Google Wallet balance, and low fees apply to send money using your linked credit or debit card.”

      Users are not charged any fees if they send money using their bank accounts of Google Wallet accounts. Funds sent using a credit or debit card are subject to a 2.9 percent transaction fee, with a minimum fee of 30 cents. There are no fees to recipients when they get their funds.

      So far, the money sending service is only available in Gmail on desktop machines, although “you can send money from Google Wallet at wallet.google.com from your phone or laptop,” wrote Green. Smartphone and laptop users will have to set up Google Wallet to send and receive money, he added.

      The new service will not be available to all users at once, he wrote. “We’re rolling out this feature over the coming months to all U.S. Gmail users over 18 years old, so keep an eye out for the $ icon in the attachment options. You can also get earlier access if your friends have the feature and send money to you.”

      Google’s Gmail turned 9 years old in April, having started on April 1, 2004.

      At its launch, Gmail offered users 1GB of mail storage, which was about 20 times the storage of other services at that time, as well as the ability to see messages in a “thread.”

      In 2005, Gmail users were bumped up to 2GB of mail storage, and in April 2006, the calendar feature was launched as part of Gmail. Chat was added in February 2006, and by May 2006 Gmail was available for use in 40 languages, including Hebrew and Arabic. In October 2007, IMAP capabilities were added to allow users to get and send their Gmail from anywhere using any IMAP-enabled device.

      By April 2012, Gmail users received 10GB of free mail storage, while by November 2012 Gmail was available for users in 57 languages. In March 2013, users got a major redesign for how they could compose their emails, including long-awaited capabilities to be able to compose multiple messages at the same time.

      Gmail’s innovations have even inspired competitors to improve their own offerings, which Microsoft did in February with the official rollout of its updated Outlook.com email service that is replacing Hotmail.com. With the new and refreshed Outlook.com service and its updated and friendlier user features, Microsoft hopes to continue to lure users over from Gmail and other services.

      For Microsoft, taking on Gmail could still be an uphill climb. Gmail claims to have more than 425 million active user accounts worldwide and has already been offering many of the same kinds of features that Outlook.com is just incorporating, such as the ability to send very large attachments up to 10GB in size.

      Avatar
      Todd R. Weiss
      As a technology journalist covering enterprise IT for more than 15 years, I joined eWEEK.com in September 2014 as the site's senior writer covering all things mobile. I write about smartphones, tablets, laptops, assorted mobile gadgets and services,mobile carriers and much more. I formerly was a staff writer for Computerworld.com from 2000 to 2008 and previously wrote for daily newspapers in eastern Pennsylvania. I'm an avid traveler, motorcyclist, technology lover, cook, reader, tinkerer and mechanic. I drove a yellow taxicab in college and collect toy taxis and taxi business cards from around the world.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more
      eWeek


      Contact Us | About | Sitemap

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      Terms of Service | Privacy Notice | Advertise | California - Do Not Sell My Information

      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×