Google to launch payment app ‘Tez’ in India

After Uber, Truecaller and WhatsApp, Google is the latest international tech giant to roll out a payment product in India. As early as Monday.

Google is expected to partner “several large private banks in India” for its payment product, Tez

Besides its own UPI-based service, Google is expected to integrate third-party payment wallets such as Paytm and MobiKwik among others on its platform

With Tez, Google will finally realise its ambition of entering India’s digital payments ecosystem, that goes back nearly three and a half years

Google is expected to deploy a multi-pronged strategy for its payment push with device, content, data, and applications at the heart of it

On Monday, 18 September, Google, Alphabet Inc’s subsidiary, will make an entry into India’s fast growing and super competitive digital payment ecosystem, with a solution of its own. Google is launching a payment product which is likely called Google ‘Tez’ (which means fast in Hindi). Tez is largely fashioned on the company’s global product—Android Pay (earlier called Google Wallet).

How hot is India’s payment space? This hot: Google, tick. WhatsApp, tick. Truecaller, tick. Myriad wallet companies, tick. Flipkart, tick. Of course, banks, a whole lot of them, tick.

Google, according to sources, is expected to partner “several large private banks in India”.

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Venkat Ananth

Venkat is currently in his tenth year in journalism. Prior to The Ken, he was Deputy Content Editor at Mint as part of the newspaper’s digital team. He also wrote in-depth features on the business of sport for the newspaper. His earlier assignments include Yahoo! (as a columnist) and the Hindustan Times, where he began his career. Born in Mumbai, Venkat holds a Bachelor of Mass Media (Journalism) degree from SIES College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Mumbai and a Master of Arts degree in International Studies from Goldsmiths, University of London. He currently resides in New Delhi, where he moved nearly five years ago.

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