Soon, Google Pay might let you gift gold online
Months after launching the option to invest in digital gold, Google Pay, the India-based payment arm of internet giant Google, is working to introduce the ability to gift gold as well. The feature was spotted in the code of Google Pay, which indicates the company could formally announce it for users in the coming months. Here's everything to know about it.
Gold purchase option launched in April
Given that gold has a special place in the Indian culture and that India is the second-largest consumer of gold in the world, Google Pay launched the option to purchase 99.99% 24 karat gold in April 2019. The feature, introduced with the help of Google's partnership with MMTC-PAMP India, allowed users to buy any value of gold and have it digitally, safely stored.
How the purchased value of gold is handled
The digital value of the gold purchased via Google Pay is stored in the Gold Accumulation Plan (GAP) by MMTC-PAMP (and shown in Google Pay app) while the physical gold is kept in a secured vault on behalf of the buyer.
Now, Google is working on the option to gift gold
Just recently, during a teardown of Google Pay v48.0.001_RC03, the folks at XDA-Developers discovered code strings related to the option of gifting gold to contacts. The working of the feature has not been detailed but the code indicates it might let users choose a certain amount of gold from what they have in their account and send it to another Google Pay user.
No surety when Google will launch it officially
The presence of gifting-related strings in the code indicates that Google has started the development of the feature, but it doesn't guarantee that the company will launch it for sure. It may launch it with a future update of the Google Pay app or scrap it due to some reason, say, like a regulatory issue/restriction regarding the gifting of digital gold.
Still, you can already sell Gold for profit
Having said that, it is imperative to note that you can already sell the digital gold purchased via Google Pay for higher return - anytime and anywhere. The price of gold is updated every few minutes, which means you can retain the purchased gold for some time and then sell it off when the rate is higher.
