Google launches UPI-enabled digital payment app Tez in India

Falling in line with all the recent rumors, Google has unveiled a new mobile wallet in India- Tez to tap into the country's booming digital payments industry.

“Send money home to your family, split a dinner bill with friends, or pay the neighbourhood chaiwala. Make all payments big or small, directly from your bank account with Tez, Google’s new digital payment app for India,” Google notes in its information portal about the new app.

Tez stands for 'fast' in Hindi, which the company says is one of the top features of its new app. Tez is already live on iOS and Android and is powered by UPI.

Tez works with all 50+ UPI-enabled banks including Axis, HDFC Bank, ICICI and State Bank of India. It is not a digital wallet requiring constant top up. Instead, the money stays in users’ bank accounts until they need to use it.

Tez’s Cash Mode securely sends money from person to person with just a few taps. Two people using Tez are able to make a secure transaction in seconds without needing to share private details like phone numbers or account numbers.

Tez syncs with the contact list in users’ phones, in accordance with their privacy settings. This way users can start a transaction just by searching for a friend’s name or phone number. Once a contact is on Tez, users do not have to add beneficiaries or enter bank account number and IFSC codes. If the other person is not on Tez or in the phone contact list, then users can still pay them with their bank account number or UPI ID.

Tez can use audio for proximity-based person to person money transfer using Google’s proprietary Audio QR (AQR) ultrasound technology and is available in seven Indic languages: Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu.

For money transfers, there is a limit of Rs 1,00,000 in one day across all UPI apps, and 20 transfers in one day. To address the growing threat of online fraud and cyber attacks, Tez comes with ‘Tez Shield’ that works like a fraud-detection mechanism to protect your money. As Google notes, each transaction is secured with your UPI PIN, and the app itself can be secured through Google PIN or by your screen lock method such as the fingerprint.

Introducing the app, Caesar Sengupta, Vice President of the Next Billion Users team at Google, said, “Tez was built for India first — and starts us on a journey to make digital payments simpler and more accessible to everyone. We want to combine the best of Google with the best from our partners — Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and State Bank of India — to supercharge digital payments and commerce for as many Indians as possible and help them get the most from every rupee.”

While the service is launching in India today, Google has also trademarked the name in other Asian countries, specifically Indonesia and the Philippines, so there seems to be a wider strategy to expand this to other regions.

Tez for Business

Google also announced a program called “Tez for Business.”

Benefits for businesses include:

Business Channels: Tez for Business merchants get their own business channel on the Tez app where they can engage directly with their customers to share offers, send payment reminders, link to their mobile website or customer support, and more. This gives an app-like payment experience without needing to download an app.

Chrome web payments integration: Online businesses can integrate the Payment Request API so they can securely accept UPI payments using Tez on their mobile websites with just a few taps.

The program will be initially open to businesses with an online presence and will expand to offline merchants in the coming months. PVR Cinemas and redBus are already integrated at launch. DishTV, Jet Airways and Domino’s will come on board in the coming weeks. Businesses can express interest on the Tez website.

"Google’s information about an individual’s preferences can play a good role in enabling business to know their preferences and provide offers with interesting options," said DD Mishra, Research Director, Gartner.