Alphabet’s Google Pay Adds Cross-Border Payments

Alphabet (GOOGL) is expanding Google Pay to support international payments. Users of Google Pay will now be able to send money to other Google Pay users in India and Singapore, as part of the new feature. The service has been made possible with the integration of Western Union (WU) and Wise.

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Plans are underway to make it possible for Google Pay users to send money to people in more than 200 countries via Western Union, and to people in more than 80 countries via Wise.

To send money, Google Pay users will only have to search for the Google Pay user that they want to send money to. By tapping “Pay” and selecting Western Union or Wise, they can complete the transaction.

Until June 16, Western Union will enable unlimited free transfers to Google Pay users. Wise will offer new users one free transfer of up to $500 on Google Pay. (See Alphabet stock analysis on TipRanks)

“For some, sending money back to their home countries is a regular activity and we are making it more accessible by adding it to the app that you use for your everyday money tasks. Working with Western Union and Wise, we’re now able to give those with family abroad a simple, safe and reliable way to send money abroad,” said Viola Gauci, Product Manager at Google Pay.

Citigroup analyst Jason Bazinet downgraded Alphabet from a Buy to a Hold. According to the analyst, growth in the sale of ads is likely to decelerate in Q2 2021 on tougher comps, something that could affect the company’s core revenue base.

“Three things make us nervous: First, among the top 10 Internet ad firms, in absolute dollar terms, sell side expects ~2x the annual growth from ’21 to ’25 versus ’18 to ’20. Second, many investors believe ad intensity per dollar of economic activity is rising. We see little evidence of this,” Bazinet said.

He also warned that growth will probably decelerate after the second quarter.

Bazinet has a $2,415 price target on the stock, implying 6.38% upside potential to current levels.

Turning to the rest of the Street, the consensus rating is a Strong Buy based on 12 Buy ratings. The average analyst price target of $2,769.59 implies 22.01% upside potential to current levels.

GOOGL scores a 7 out of 10 from TipRanks’ Smart Score rating system, implying its performance is likely to align with market expectations.