Google introduces Tez, a UPI-based digital payments app in India

New Delhi: The internet search giant Google launched its UPI- based digital payment application,Tez, on Monday.

The application allows its users to make payments for the goods and services and even person-to-person transactions, both online and offline.

Google's Tez is almost same as the NPCI's BHIM app. Google has lately been working with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to build the app.

On Google's Play Store, the app reads, “Send money to friends, instantly receive payments directly to your bank account and pay the nearby café with Tez, Google's new digital payment app for India.”

Tez works with all major Indian banks and with a vast majority of smartphones, so you can pay or get paid by almost anyone. 

Tez offers language support for English, Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu.

Tez will compete, among others, with Paytm which is backed by SoftBank and Alibaba. Paytm is the country`s largest e-wallet with more than 225 million users.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who launched Tez in New Delhi said Google was keen on joining India`s transformation into a digital economy, especially after the demonetization.

"The Google team was extremely keen because they saw a great potential, both in the economy and the businesses in India."

Google has increasingly stepped up its efforts to reach deeper into the Indian market. It provides free wifi at several railways stations across the country and launched a version of its video platform YouTube that runs on a slower network.

Bharti Enterprises-backed Hike launched a UPI-linked wallet within its messaging platform earlier this year, while Facebook`s popular WhatsApp instant messaging service is also mulling foraying into digital payment services in India, its biggest market and home to 200 million of its billion-plus users.

With PTI Inputs