NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Thursday, September 14, 2017

Google is increasing its focus on India with plans to introduce a localized digital payment service as soon as next week, according to a report from India-based news site The Ken.

The publication claims Google ‘Tez’ — meaning fast in India — will offer a comprehensive set of payment options beyond existing products like Google Wallet or Android Pay. Tez, for one thing, will include support for Unified Payments Interface (UPI) — a payment system backed by the government — and other consumer payment services including Paytm and MobiKwik. Apparently it will be a dedicated app when it arrives.

Google declined to comment.

This is a big deal because Google hasn’t made a big push into payments outside of the U.S. and, while it has a strong consumer presence in India, revenue from the country is nothing to write home about. Yet.

Photo courtesy of Kārlis Dambrāns.