Google plans to launch a debit card.

Sputnik Agency The tech giant says it will launch a debit card linked to a Google Pay account by the end of the year, aiming to compete with its rival Apple's card.

Google has partnered with Citibank and Stanford Federal Credit Union to address the most common account holder needs, exploring what it calls "smart checking accounts," which would be linked to a physical Google debit card, Techxplore reported on April 20.

This would help customers benefit from useful parameters and budgeting tools, the tech company claimed, as quoted by the portal.

Google has not yet announced a release schedule, but it is estimated that it will be released sometime this year.

The card will be designed to be linked to the Google Pay app. The portal warns that, in this way, Google will collect even more information about users – what they buy, when, and their spending habits – making it possible to target personalized ads.

Google Pay, on the other hand, is a competitor to Apple Pay, a program controlled by Apple smartphones that allows customers to pay for goods in retail stores and other locations using their smartphones. Google offers a similar service and links the account to both bank accounts and credit cards.

But peer-to-peer payments, electronic money transfers made from one person to another through an intermediary, popularized by PayPal, only work with Google Pay if linked to a debit card.

Google will need to significantly expand the app's functionality to position itself equally as a giant, now in financial technology.

In November, Google revealed to The Wall Street Journal its plans to get involved with checking accounts. "If we can help more people do more things digitally online, it's good for the internet and good for us," said Cesar Sengupta, vice president of Google Pay.