Google’s new Gmail feature lets users send money by email

Gmail already lets you attach photos, videos, documents and event invitations, so Google figured, why not money too?

The Silicon Valley giant said Gmail users will now be able to send each other payments through the popular email service. Payments can be sent even to those who don’t have a Gmail account.

The service works with Google Wallet and can be used after it’s paired with a user’s bank account. It can also be used if credit is added to a user’s Google Wallet account. Users can also choose to simply link their account with a debit or credit card, but that will result in a 2.9% fee per transaction.

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The feature is being rolled out slowly over the next few months to U.S. users older than 18, but some can already use it. You can activate the feature if someone who already has it sends you money.

If you have the feature, all you need to do is compose a new email, click the attachment button and then select the dollar sign icon.

Gmail isn’t the first service to let users easily send payments over the Web -- Venmo, for example, is a nifty little app that does this particularly well -- but with so many users on Google, the feature might catch on fast.

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