Yes, you read it right, Google mail ie. Gmail is all set to allow you to send money through Gmail mailbox directly to your friends and family. Google is doing this through their Google Wallet Service which is like online vault storing your credit card , debit cards and other financial information so that when you make online purchase at Google Wallet supported merchants, Google’s services, you do not have to disclose your financial information, simply make payment using wallet instantly.
So Google wallet service is now being expanded to Gmail also. They will be rolling out this service first to US users where they will have to click dollar ($) sign which will soon appear in their mailboxes by which they can specify amount they wish to send and the target user’s email address. Google will take amount from your Google Wallet and then will send to user. The recipient need not to have Google account but in order to claim money, one need to sign for it.
This move may actually benefit Google as people those are using Wallet already may indirectly ask their friends and family to register to for Google Wallet when they send money to them. The service will be available to only 18+ users.
For sending money, if you are sending through Google Wallet Balance then it will be free however, there’s a flat fee of 2.9% per transaction (minimum $0.30) to send money using a credit or debit card which is lined to your Google Wallet account. However, for receiver , its completely free to receive money no matter what fund source has been used.
May be late but this is a great move, if you are familier with PayPal , they also offer similar structure to send payment through mail but from their account only and anyone (even without Paypal) can receive but to claim money they need to have Paypal address. I know many people who created their first paypal account when someone actually sent them PayPal balance. So, apparently, including Google Wallet money transfer facility in Gmail will definitely help Google to popularize Google Wallet among masses.