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Google will soon offer checking accounts to consumers, becoming the latest Silicon Valley heavyweight to push into finance.
The project, code-named Cache, is expected to launch next year with accounts run by Citigroup Inc C, -0.70% and a credit union at Stanford University, a tiny lender in Google’s GOOGL, -0.08% backyard.
Big tech companies see financial services as a way to get closer to users and glean valuable data. Apple Inc. introduced a credit card this summer. Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, +0.36% has talked to banks about offering checking accounts. Facebook Inc. FB, +2.56% is working on a digital currency it hopes will upend global payments.
Their ambitions could challenge incumbent financial-services firms, which fear losing their primacy and customers. They are also likely to stoke a reaction in Washington, where regulators are already investigating whether large technology companies have too much clout.
An expanded version of this report can be found at WSJ.com
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