--- description: Google is experimenting with a service called "Pony Express" that would like Gmail users pay their bills directly in their inbox. title: Soon You'll Be Able to Pay Bills Right Inside Gmail image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbe663dbe5ab704f3/6987852835ba6f6d3cc07b84/458046608-1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Soon You'll Be Able to Pay Bills Right Inside Gmail by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 25, 2015 2:40 PM CUT  Google's lead designer for "Inbox by Gmail" Jason Cornwell shows the app's functionalities on a nexus 6 android phone during a media preview in New York on October 29, 2014. Google's lead designer for "Inbox by Gmail" Jason Cornwell shows the app's functionalities on a nexus 6 android phone during a media preview in New York on October 29, 2014.Jewel Samad—AFP/Getty Images by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 25, 2015 2:40 PM CUT Google has already been experimenting with turning Gmail into a [commerce platform](http://time.com/3687830/send-money-gmail/ "undefined"). Now, the company may be poised to take the next step down that path by letting users pay their bills using the email service. [Re/code](http://recode.net/2015/03/24/google-working-on-project-to-let-you-receive-and-pay-bills-directly-inside-gmail/ "undefined") has viewed documents describing a new service dubbed “Pony Express” that would allow users to link up their electricity, phone and other utility bills to their Gmail account. Users would be able to pay the bills within Gmail using a credit card or a bank account withdrawal. The bills would be bundled together in a special Pony Express folder within Gmail or Google’s new email app Inbox, according to the documents. A Google spokeswoman declined to comment. Launching a bill-paying service would give Google more access to users’ personal and financial information. It would also keep users more tightly tethered to Google’s services. However, many utilities already offer online payment systems, so it’s not clear whether people would adopt a Google version of online billing en masse. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3757933/gmail-paying-bills/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3757933/gmail-paying-bills/"},"headline":"Soon You'll Be Able to Pay Bills Right Inside Gmail","datePublished":"2015-03-25T14:40:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T05:25:41.389Z","description":"Gmail users could pay electric or telephone bills from their inbox","url":"https://time.com/3757933/gmail-paying-bills/","keywords":["Money","Google","apps","gmail"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbe663dbe5ab704f3/6987852835ba6f6d3cc07b84/458046608-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Victor Luckerson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbe663dbe5ab704f3/6987852835ba6f6d3cc07b84/458046608-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-TECHONOLOGY-GOOGLE","caption":"US-TECHONOLOGY-GOOGLE","creditText":"Jewel Samad—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3757933/gmail-paying-bills/","name":"Soon You'll Be Able to Pay Bills Right Inside Gmail"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How Google Makes its Doodles","description":"Our videographer went to the Googleplex in Mountain View, California to meet some of the designers and coders who create the special, clever variations on the Google.com logo known as","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/upF0qp1E/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-07-07T16:09:57.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/upF0qp1E.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3757933/gmail-paying-bills/","duration":"PT3M23S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3757933/gmail-paying-bills/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```