Google launches Tez, a new digital payment app for India

Google has jumped into the crowded and fiercely competitive digital payments space in India, and launched a new digital payments app – Tez. Tez, which means ‘fast’ in Hindi, is a UPI-based app that can be used for online transactions, as well as paying offline at stores.

UPI (Unified Payments Interface) was launched by National Payments Corporation of India, an umbrella organization for all retail payment systems in India. While NPCI is a private entity, it is regulated by the country’s central bank – Reserve Bank of India.

According to the company, all transactions on Tez are secured by ‘Tez Shield’ that detects fraud, prevents hacking, and verifies identity. The company has partnered with HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, and State Bank of India for the backend.

Google already has several partners like RedBus, PVR Cinemas, Domino’s Pizza, DishTV, and Jet Airways which would accept payments via Tez along with payment gateways like BillDesk and ecommerce solutions like Shopify and PayU. There are also distribution partners – Nokia, Micromax, Lava, and Panasonic – that will probably pre-load Tez app on their upcoming devices. Google might also integrate Tez with its own suite of services, like Play Store, to enable payments.