You Can Now E-Mail Your Friends Money Through Gmail

While Google has made a big to-do about its new subscription music service, it has allowed a more interesting new wrinkle go virtually unmentioned, as yesterday the company integrated its Google Wallet payment system into Gmail, allowing users to send money to each other via e-mail.

For users sending money straight from a linked bank account — or from a balance in their Google Wallet account — there is no fee. If you’re using a credit or debit card to send money, there’s a flat 2.9% fee (with a minimum of $.30).

Transactions made using cards or a Google Wallet balance will be processed almost instantly. Sending directly from a linked bank account will likely take longer and can take as long as 10 business days.

Transactions are capped at $10,000 per transaction, with a maximum of $50,000 transferred over the course of five days.

Gmail users with existing Google Wallet accounts will begin seeing a “$” icon they can click while composing an e-mail. Clicking on the icon will let the user enter in a dollar amount and select a source. The recipient of the money need not have a Gmail account.

The Gmail payment option is currently only available on desktop interfaces.

More info about the service can be found on the Google Wallet website.

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