You can now send and request money in Gmail on Android

Google parent Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) just rolled out an update to its Gmail app for Android devices that lets users send money to contacts via Google Wallet directly inside the app.

As you can see in the above image, sending money through Gmail for Android couldn’t be easier. Oh, and people with non-Gmail email addresses can engage in this as well. It is now possible to send money to friends and family using Google Wallet via the desktop version of Gmail, and the functionality has been in place since 2013. The feature isn’t showing up on my phones just yet. The recipient, on the other side, gets the email with the same card and an option to “Claim money” with redemption or payment options built right into the email. In instances, one doesn’t have the wallet account then they would be required to sign-up for it.

The functionality is already available via Gmail.com, but there’s no news on the rollout for the iOS Gmail app or an worldwide expansion yet.

Similar to the Gmail web, you can attach the payment request or send the payment within the e-mail. Today, Apple Pay and PayPal practically dominate the mobile wallet space, and Google clearly wants a share. If you’re the friend receiving the payment you can even set it up to have payments directly sent to your bank account. You can send and receive money through Messenger. Users can now quickly move their money within their Gmail accounts. There are no fees involved, notes Google.

That said, Google is hardly alone in trying to expand the functionality of a communications app to include money exchanges.

The feature was already available on web browsers in some areas. You can then type in the amount that you’d like to send and add a memo if you’d like.