Consumer group criticizes banks' integrating with Google Pay phone payment system

Banks cannot guarantee their customers' privacy when they do business with Google Pay. The Consumentenbond, the Dutch consumer association, warned of this after ING also announced that customers with Android phones will have to use Google's payment system if they want to make payments with their device.

The Consumentenbond said that they have received various reports from consumers who are concerned about their privacy during contactless mobile phone payments due to the shutdown of ING's mobile payment app. Customers who want to pay with their Android will now have to install the Google Pay app.

According to the banks, sufficient agreements have been made with Google regarding their customers' privacy. But when the Consumentenbond asked about the agreements, it turned out that they did not exist, the consumer group said.

"And Google does all kinds of things with that data," said the Consumentenbond. "The privacy conditions from Google Pay state that the company will collect payment details, analyze, and use these for other services. The company can thus offer space for personalized advertisements to third parties and earn billions from it."

Sandra Molenaar, a director for the Consumentenbond, called it "unacceptable" that banks are handing over their customers' data to Google without any overview. Google has been taken to court before for alleged large-scale privacy abuses. "We think that the banks should offer their own payment system by phone, which is then monitored by Dutch authorities."

According to the Consumentenbond, consumers' data on iPhones who use Apple Pay seems to be better protected. Apple's privacy policies state that the company does not keep payment details.