ADAM WILLIAMS PERSONAL ACCOUNT

Google is to launch a current account, but think twice before giving away your data

Your bank account is valuable. Not just for the balance you hold at any given moment, but for the data that shows where and when you spend your hard-earned cash.

So it’s little wonder that some of the world’s biggest technology firms have been trying to get hold of your financial information.

Apple launched a credit card in America earlier this year, while Facebook had planned to create its own currency, so its users could spend without using any other company.

Now Google is joining the party. The search engine giant already knows where you work, what you read online and the places you have visited, but it now wants to see inside your wallet as well.

Google has shown its eagerness to harvest customers’ financial data in the past. In 2011 it bought the price comparison website BeatThatQuote to learn about the habits of insurance customers. Spending data is a logical next step.

In Britain we have seen the rise of digital banks such as Monzo, Revolut, Starling and Tandem, all of which operate without a high street presence. This has left consumers scared that traditional banks are being squeezed out.

A report by Pepper, a bank, found that 87pc of us were concerned about bank branches disappearing as online players grow. As many as 34pc of people believe that traditional banks will have ceased to exist in their current form by 2023. Customers are already worried about these digital players taking over, and the tech giants want to delve even deeper into your life.

There is a chance the tide could turn. Facebook has experienced a backlash against its plans for a digital currency, with major backers pulling out amid concerns over consumer safety.

Perhaps this is why Google is keen to involve traditional banks in its own plans. Like Apple, which teamed up with Goldman Sachs to launch its card, Google also plans to use an established bank to administer its current accounts in America, in this case Citi.

Both cards are likely to come across to these shores with a local partner if deemed successful.

As many as a third of people believe high street banks won’t exist by 2023

Could this lead to further snooping on our finances? In China, the government is said to be developing a system that will monitor all of its citizens’ online and financial activity. This will be inputted into its social security system, prompting fears that people could be effectively blacklisted from certain services if their finances are less than perfect.

So before you consider a new bank account with a tech giant, ask whether you want to give them even more data. They already know so much.

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