Magdalena Gołębiewska
Google Pay will now work with all banks after Curve integration
UK fintech Curve is now allowing its users with Android-operating devices to shop with Google Pay. Seems that Curve took their promises seriously, and after successful financing round earlier this year ($55M), as well great crowdfunding round which I've described as well here (£6M), they are delivering :)
This time, the 'over-the-top' banking platform provides its users with a single Curve card which can make payments from any other bank card they have.
Curve's integration with Google Pay means its users will be able to link all their bank cards to Google Pay irrespective of the provider. At the same time, it provides all banks whose cards use Mastercard and Visa with Google Pay support.
While many major UK banks already offer Google Pay, there are some that have instead built NFC-enabled payments into their own apps, such as Barclays and Virgin.
Curve will be looking to drive use of its platform through the added convenience of being able to shop without having the physcial card handy.
Google Pay also has the advantage over standard contactless payments of not being limited to transactions of £30 or less.
Head of product at Curve, Diego Rivas, says:
"By combining the Google Pay experience with Curve’s unique all your cards in one and money management features, Curve customers get to experience one of the most rewarding and feature packed personal finance products on the market."
This announcement follows hard on the heels of Curve's integration with Samsung Pay, launched earlier this week. Support for Apple Pay is also currently in the works.
The company is valued now a quarter of a billion dollars, placing it in the top five UK consumer fintechs alongside Transferwise, Monzo, Revolut and Starling.
