Apple and Google among companies in new financial tech coalition

Google and Apple are among the companies in a new coalition dedicated to advocating policies to aid the financial tech space.

The coalition, dubbed Financial Innovation Now, will lobby for policies important to the growing electronic payments sector.

{mosads}“This alliance of remarkably innovative companies brings a new voice to Washington’s financial conversations, and we look forward to engaging on a wide range of opportunities,” said Brian Peters, the executive director of the coalition and a staffer at tech lobbying powerhouse the Franklin Square Group.

“Whether it is protecting consumers, growing small businesses, or promoting financial literacy and savings, Financial Innovation Now wants policymakers to understand how new technologies can help solve today’s policy challenges.”

The coalition also includes Amazon, PayPal and Intuit.

It said five principles will guide its advocacy, including expanding the market for online commerce and lending and improving access for underserved populations.

Among other policy proposals, the group said the government should promote “the development of open security and fraud reduction standards that enhance and enable innovation.”

The formation of the group underscores the gold rush among tech companies on the mobile payments and commerce space.

While Amazon, PayPal and Intuit have long had a stake in the financial tech sector, Google and Apple are more recent entrants.

Just over a year ago, Apple launched Apple Pay, which lets users to save their credit card information on their phones and make payments at brick-and-mortar merchants. Google Wallet is both a mobile payments platform and allows users to send money to each other.

They are competing with newer companies such as Venmo, which is owned by PayPal, and Square, which is currently in the process of going public.