Google wades into banking

The search giant is teaming up with two banks, Citigroup and the Stanford Federal Credit Union, to begin offering a “smart checking” account next year, Stacy Cowley and Tara Siegel Bernard of the NYT report.

• Google says it will help bank customers “benefit from useful insights and budgeting tools.”

• It isn’t seeking a banking charter: For instance, the Stanford Federal Credit Union will offer co-branded accounts, with Google developing the user interface and the credit union still handling all the banking functions.

• The exact features offered by its smart checking account are so far unconfirmed.

Google isn’t the only tech company interested in banking and payments. Apple is championing its own credit card in partnerships with Goldman Sachs, while Facebook unveiled a new digital payment system this week and is trying to revolutionize the world of global finance with its own cryptocurrency project. They are all attracted by the prospect of a new revenue stream, as their business models, based on areas like data collection and smartphone sales, begin to look less robust.

What’s less clear is whether customers want their banking provided by Big Tech. “For a new product or service to succeed, it has to offer something new and shiny enough to motivate consumers to leave their existing provider,” Ms. Cowley and Ms. Siegel Bernard write. And fears about financial data privacy are probably a concern for consumers, too.

The early success of Disney Plus

Disney’s new streaming service is already a runaway success: It has 10 million users and counting, according to the company.

What we don’t know so far, Edmund Lee of the NYT points out, is how many of those are free trials from Disney’s tie-up with Verizon — customers of the carrier’s unlimited data plans get a free yearlong subscription — versus full-price buy-ins.

That could be important: Verizon is thought to be paying a wholesale rate to Disney for those accounts, of around $3 per subscription per month, Mr. Lee notes, so the revenue from them is lower. And “those folks could churn out after a year if they notice it on their bills” when their free trial ends, he adds.