Google Pay has received a license to operate as a payment institution in Brazil, allowing it to initiate payment transactions. Payment initiators, according to Brazil's central bank, initiate a transaction ordered by the final user but never manage the payment account, nor hold the funds of the transactions.

A press spokesperson for Google confirmed the central bank's authorisation and said the move offered more payment options to users through their platforms in Brazil. Google Pay currently operates an app serving as a virtual wallet, which allows the user to include their credit and debit cards, vaccination cards, and concert tickets, for example. The approval comes days after Brazil's National Monetary Council also authorised fintechs to initiate payment transactions in the country.

Recent development from Google In December 2022, US-based instalment service Splitit has partnered with Google to add its Instalments-as-a-Service solution to the Google Store in the US, Canada, and Australia. The white-label service enables customers to pay in instalments using their existing credit on their payment card at checkout. Through the agreement signed with Google and certain of its affiliates, the solution will be extended to the aforementioned markets in addition to Japan, for which Splitit signed an initial agreement to offer Google with its instalment payment solutions in the region in January 2021, with the go live taking place in April 2021.

Splitit’s instalments solution is expected to be implemented by Google starting with the beginning of 2023, with the economic materiality of the ‘Expanded Google Agreement’ being unknown due to factors of the likes of the revenues’ variable nature, which is dependant of customer uptake or specific products. Despite this, Splitit expects the Google partnership extension to have a material impact on its brand and business development prospects. .