Google scrapped Plex checking accounts, leaving 11 partner banks in the lurch

On 2021-10-04 Banking Dive reported that Google was abandoning Plex, its plan to offer co-branded checking accounts with banks and credit unions, first reported by the Wall Street Journal and confirmed by Google. The project, announced almost two years earlier in November 2019, had grown to 11 partner institutions by November 2020, including Citi, Stanford Federal Credit Union, BM Technologies and BBVA USA.

The new Google Pay app was supposed to let customers open 'Plex' checking and savings accounts through partner banks. But the project suffered a series of delays, and the March 2021 departure of Caesar Sengupta, the Google Pay executive who headed it, prompted the company to scrap the effort, sources told the Journal. Google told regulators before notifying all of its banking partners; bank regulators, per the Journal, had supported the project and played no role in its abandonment.

Google reframed the retreat as strategy: 'We're updating our approach to focus primarily on delivering digital enablement for banks and other financial services providers rather than us serving as the provider of these services.' Partners were left flat — BM Technologies CEO Luvleen Sidhu said 'We are obviously disappointed but are investing heavily in our own product.' Citi, the largest bank signed on, saw Plex as a way to reach customers without expanding branches; Seattle Bank's CEO had likened the tie-up to a 'Tesla-Peloton' experience for banking.

Two years of preparation by 11 partner institutions — including Citi, Stanford Federal Credit Union and BBVA USA — abandoned before launch

The project missed launch deadlines repeatedly across two years

Its executive champion, Caesar Sengupta, left Google in March 2021

Google chose to reposition as a technology enabler for banks rather than a consumer banking provider

Big tech partners in consumer finance should launch before recruiting a dozen banks — co-branding deals cannot survive indefinite delays

As of 2021-10-04 Google had told regulators and then its 11 partners it would not move forward, pivoting Google Pay toward powering banks' own digital products, while partner banks returned to their own roadmaps.