Getting on the digital payments bandwagon in India, Google has announced to launch a similar service in the country. Touted as Tez, the service will be introduced by next week, reports a domestic news website, The Ken.
Tez, which means fast in India, will be supporting the government’s payment service called Unified Payments Interface and other consumer payment services including Paytm and Mobikwik. Also, it will offer a comprehensive set of payment options beyond existing products like Google Wallet or Android Pay, claims the website.
The demand of digital payments in India increased especially after demonetization. Digital platforms like Paytm saw a huge rise in the number of users and became the country’s largest mobile payment service provider with over 150 million wallets and 75 million Android based app downloads post demonetization. The government also launched the BHIM app to promote cashless transactions in the country.
According to a report published in the Mint, Google, Facebook Inc and WhatsApp Inc are in talks with NPCI to provide UPI-enable payment on their platforms.
To recap, UPI is basically a payment system that is launched by the National Payments Corporation of India which facilitates the instant fund transfer between two bank accounts on the mobile platforms. It is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India.
Apart from this, the growth in the Indian mobile industry which is growing at a rate of over 200 million per year, is cited as a major contributor towards the increased demand in such services.