Google Set to Launch New Payment App in India

Google has set its sights on the India payments landscape with the planned launch of the Tez. The payment system will run on mobile and on Internet –enabled devices.

The booming interest in digital payments across India has made the country a sought-after market that global payment giants cannot overlook. The market was worth 5 Billion USD as at the end of 2016. The market is expected to reach 700 billion USD in 2020, according to Bloomberg

The official launch of the Google initiative is expected to be made official before the end of September 2017. The tech giants have experimented with Android pay and Google wallet respectively with mixed results globally.

How it will work

Tez as the Google payment solution is named will offer payments options that will be multi-layered. It is already touted as working to sync with the NPCI to render payment services on India’s Unified Payments Interface.

It is expected to be available on the desktop using Chrome widget and on mobile with synchronized services with the likes of MobiKwik and Paytm. Interested users will soon be able to access it on their Google Play app.

It will be able to serve as a payment option for Play services including music and movie download fees. E-commerce support will be provided so that array of services can be covered across India.

Local Competition

In a recent study completed by research Powerhouse, KPMG, in a target group that was interviewed, the outcome was as follows:

• 48 percent of respondents use digital transactions 75 % of the time
• 34percent of respondents use digital transactions 50- 75 % of the time
• 15 percent of respondents use digital transactions 30-50 % of the time
• 4 percent of respondents use digital transactions less than 30 % of the time

The above statistics provide an incentive for Google to launch its payment app in India. As at July 2017, the market was dominated by Alibaba partner, Paytm, with 57 percent market share. Other players use a mix of wallet payments and mobile options and they include:

• FreeCharge
• Oxigen
• Tencent backed by Hike Messenger
• Jio Money
• Ola Money
• MobiKwik
• PayU
• ItzCash
• Citrus Pay
• Phone Pe

In recent months, Uber and Truecaller have also introduced their payment solutions to the Indian digital payment clime. Whatsapp is also reportedly working on introducing its payment option in no distant time.