Google to launch digital payment service called Tez with support for UPI payment service

Google plans to introduce a localised digital payment service in India as early as next week, technology website TechCrunch reported, citing a report from news site The Ken.

[caption id=“attachment_4042039” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Google India. Reuters.[/caption]

The payment service, called Google ‘Tez’, will offer payment options beyond the existing ones like Google Wallet or Android Pay, the report said.

Tez, meaning fast in Hindi, will include support for the government-backed Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and other consumer payment services including Paytm and MobiKwik, according to the report.

Google launched its payment app Android Pay in the United States two years ago. A spokesman for Google in India did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Google, Facebook Inc, and WhatsApp Inc **were in talks** with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to provide UPI-enabled payment on their platforms, the Mint daily had reported in July.

UPI, launched by NPCI, is a mobile application that helps quick transfer of money through a mobile device round the clock. The customers can access multiple bank accounts through a single mobile application.

According to **previous reports** , highlighting the nation’s target of achieving 25 billion digital payments transactions mark in FY18, NPCI MD & CEO AP Hota had said that last year the volume of digital payments was 9.2 billion of which 3.5 billion had been contributed by NPCI and this year, “we are aiming to contribute about 11 billion digital transactions.”

Hota said that there are 50 banks who are members of UPI and out of them, 37 have developed their own UPI applications.