Google Bets Big On Indian Payments, Rebrands Tez To Pay, Will Offer Instant Loans With ICICI And HDFC

Looking at expanding its footprint in the digital payments sector, Alphabet’s Google has rebranded its Tez application to Google Pay as part of a global plan to consolidate its financial products.

Google Pay will retain Tez’s features, notably its Audio QR – earlier called Cash Mode, now called Tez Mode – to transfer money using the National Payments Corporation of India’s (NPCI’s) Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

According to Google, there are 22 million Pay users who have performed 750 million transactions worth an annual average of Rs 2 lakh crore. Chief executive officer (CEO) Sundar Pichai has said that Tez is central to the company’s India-specific strategy and also its global payments push.

According to a report by Mint, Google has also partnered with four major banks – ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Federal Bank to provide instant, pre-approved loans using the app.

India’s expanding digital payments market has seen many international majors bet big money on it. Earlier this week, Warren Buffet-led Berkshire Hathway announced the acquisition of a minority stake in Paytm.

At the domestic level, India is set to see a host of new Payments Banks open shop, including India Post, and Mukesh Ambani-led Jio’s YONO app.