Google Tez rebranded as Google Pay, to offer loans via banks

Google-owned UPI-based payment platform Google Tez is now Google Pay. The search engine giant announced the rebranding, with additional features and increase in the number of places users can use the platform - online on apps and website, as well as branded retail stores.

Google will now also facilitate pre-approved loans to its customers in India.

Customers will be able to use Google Pay to take out a customised loan amount from their banks with minimal paperwork. Once users accept the bank’s terms, the money is deposited instantly in their bank account, said Caesar Sengupta GM, Payments and Next Billion Users Initiative in a blogpost.

For this, Google has partnered with banks such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Federal Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Google Pay was launched in September 2017. Ever since its launch, it claims that over 22 million people and businesses have used Google Pay to make over 750 million transactions that are collectively worth over $30 billion annually.

Soon after the launch of Google Pay, it accounted for 52 per cent of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions in India in December 2017. At present, Google Tez is largely being used for peer to peer fund transfer and paying utility bills. Soon it will be adding more partners such as BookMyShow, Big Bazaar, e-ZON and FBB on its platform.

Besides, Google is also building and testing more features to help the 1.2 million Indian local businesses on Google Pay.

With 50 million downloads, Google Pay primarily competes against Paytm and PhonePe.

As per NPCI data, about 235 million transactions were recorded in July on UPI. Out of which, PhonePe alone facilitated over 40 per cent transactions (94 million). Till July, Google Tez accounted for about 22 per cent of the total volume on UPI, clocking 54 million transactions.

Google products for India

According to Rajan Anandan, Vice President, India and Southeast Asia, Google India, his firm is creating more locally relevant experiences for Indians and to bring them online. Around 40 million new users come online in India every year, not just from metropolitan centers, but from rural areas as well, and latter on an increasing basis.

In this direction, the search engine giant is first working to provide high-quality internet access. Google Station is partnering Andhra Pradesh State FiberNet Limited to cover over 12,000 villages, towns and cities in the state of Andhra Pradesh, potentially reaching 10 million people.

For Indians, who prefer listening and speaking over reading text, Google is launching a new feature in Google Go that lets you listen to web pages. It supports 28 languages, including Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam, Marathi and Tamil, even on 2G connections.