Alphabet Inc.’s Google hires former PayPal Holdings Inc. executive Arnold Goldberg to run its payments division and set a new course for the business after it scrapped a push into banking.

“The move is part of a broader strategy to squad up with a wider range of financial services, including cryptocurrencies,” says Bill Ready, president of commerce, Google.

The business, known for the Google Pay system and mobile wallet, has largely avoided the crypto industry.

Reddy says, “the changes follow a major turnabout in October. Google had spent years planning a digital checking and savings service, lining up 11 banking partners for the launch. But that month the company nixed the proposed offering, called Plex. Instead, Google wants to become the connective tissue for the entire consumer finance industry, not just certain partners.”

“We’re not a bank -- we have no intention of being a bank, some past efforts, at times, would unwittingly wade into those spaces,” Reddy adds.

Given Google’s dominance in search and other online services, the move is been long expected to shake up the world of finance. But the move is little to show for its efforts so far. Google Pay has gained some traction in India, but struggled elsewhere lagging well behind Apple Inc.’s payment platform, as it hasn’t created its own credit card or financial products the way Apple has.

“But Google does have enormous consumer reach and a huge balance sheet. The technology giant takes no fees on transactions with its mobile wallet, and Ready said there are no plans to change that. Google is also working to add more payment features within search and its shopping service. That will help show users the entire array of financial services out there," Ready adds.

Reddy, PayPal’s former chief operating officer, joined Google in 2019 and began overseeing firm’s payments division last year after an executive departure. He recruited Goldberg, who ran PayPal’s merchant business, to become the vice president and general manager for the payments and emerging market efforts, an initiative Google calls Next Billion Users, or NBU.