Google Wallet balances now FDIC insured

Google Wallet users will feel a lot safer now that funds left in Google Wallet will be insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

FDIC-insured institutions have up to $250,000 of funds protected. Money transfer and payment services such as PayPal and Venmo, are classed as “non-banking institutions”, and are not legally required to be insured in this way.

While Google Wallet users normally use the service to transfer money and pay for purchases, they can choose to keep those funds in their Wallet Balance. Google Wallet’s user agreement says that these balances are not insured, but a Google spokesperson told Yahoo Finance that this policy has changed.

Google Wallet will now hold balances in multiple banking institutions that are FDIC insured, meaning that if anything happened to the mobile money transfer firm, users’ funds will be protected.

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