Jump On It: Google Working on 'Pony Express' Bill Pay System Inside Gmail

Google’s just a multibillion-dollar company looking for a new product. And reports suggest the big G’s next project is one that will let you pay bills right inside Gmail.

Called ‘Pony Express’, Google’s latest initiative will be more than just an excuse to sprinkle Ginuwine GIFs throughout a news story; it’ll be the “future of paper mail,” according to images secured by Re/code.

Google apparently wants to do away with paper bills entirely (not that I’d mind), and instead pull all bills into Pony Express, where they can be organized, paid, and even split with other people. If you’re someone who rents with roommates and divvies up utility costs, Pony Express could wind up being a pretty useful tool.

Can you take this sentence seriously with what’s going on to the left? Doubtful. Is Pony Express a play for Google to get into something bigger? Probably. Google always has an endgame beyond providing a free service — it doesn’t just do so out of the goodness of its heart. In this case, Google could use your financial information to better target you with ads. It could also get into the financial sector, as Re/code pointed out in its coverage.

Whatever the case, the evidence presented points to Google jumping into the bill-pay game in Q4 2015.

One last burning question: will Pony Express be the final name of the product? That’s unclear. But God, I hope it is.