Late last year, Google announced a new payments app for the Indian market which gave users the ability to transfer funds to nearby users without any special hardware. Since its debut, Tez has seen a lot of popularity, but now it’s being rebranded to fall under Google Pay’s umbrella… Google says that since its launch less than a year ago, Tez has racked up big numbers. Apparently, the app has been used by 22 million people with a whopping 750 million financial transactions in that time. Now, Tez is getting merged into Google Pay, eliminating the Tez name entirely. An update to the Tez app rolling out now rebrands the app to Google Pay, unifying it under the same name as the Google Pay app that the rest of the world already uses. However, this version of the app still offers all of the same functionality that Tez currently has, and interestingly, Google will be bringing some of Tez’s elements to other regions in Google Pay. We have learnt that when we build for India, we build for the world, and we believe that many of the innovations and features we have pioneered with Tez will work globally. The world has certainly taken notice of India’s digital payments success and our deep investments here with Tez. Many governments are asking us to work with them to bring similar digital payments innovations to their countries. To make this happen, we will be unifying all of Google’s payment offerings globally. Starting today, Tez will now be called Google Pay. Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news: FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More. Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news:<doc-sep>Readying its digital payment service for India, Tez, for a global roll out, Google on Tuesday renamed the app as Google Pay and introduced new features that could soon help its Indian users get instant “pre-approved” loans from some banks. “Building for India has often meant Google building for everyone all around the world,” Caesar Sengupta, Vice-President, Next Billion Users initiative and Payments, Google, said at its annual Google for India event here. “At the moment, nothing is changing about the experience in India other than the name,” he said, adding that Google is working with a few of India’s top banks — HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Federal Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank — to offer pre-approved, instant loans to their customers, right from within Google Pay. This feature will roll out to eligible users within the next few weeks, Google said. With the roll out of this feature, eligible users will see a notification telling that that they are pre-approved. Next, the users would have to decide how much they want to borrow, and how quickly they would like to repay. Finally, after reviewing the terms of the loan, the bank will deposit the money in their bank account instantly — without the need of any additional paperwork, Google said. “In coming weeks and months, Google is making Pay even more useful through expanding the places users can pay in-store and online, expanding services for merchants, and working with the banks to provide instant loans to Google Pay users,” Mr. Sengupta said. Google launched the Tez app in India last year and since then over 55 million people have downloaded the app and more than 22 million people and businesses actively use the app for digital transactions every month. Google Pay works with all major banks in India on BHIM UPI (Unified Payments Interface).<doc-sep>Google has renamed its UPI payment app in India from Google Tez to Google Pay. While this does bring it under Google's recently consolidated payment services, Google Pay in India will continue to use the UPI protocol instead of the NFC-based system used in other countries. Apart from the name change, Google also announced that Google Pay in India will soon allow users to request an instant, pre-approved bank loan directly from within the app. Customers will be able to request a loan from Federal Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank. Users will be able to choose the amount and the period over which it will be paid back and the amount will be deposited directly without any paperwork. The bank loan feature will be rolling out in the next few weeks. Users will be informed with a notification when the feature is available to them. Google is also working on integrating Google Pay in India with various service providers. Current list of partners include Dish TV, redBus, Mi.com, Goibibo, FreshMenu, BookMyShow, Jet Airways, Nykaa, Reliance, Croma, FoodPanda, and Zerodha. Google Pay, née Tez currently has 22 million active users, with 750 million transactions being made so far since the service launched in September of 2017. The service uses India's UPI, or Unified Payments Interface, which enables direct money transfer from the sender's bank account to the receiver's with the UPI app acting as a bridge. The service is free of charge and only requires the sender's and receiver's banks to support UPI and the users to have created a UPI ID. UPI is currently the fastest growing payments systems in India.<doc-sep>
New Delhi: In a bid to increase its market share in India’s payments market, Google today rebranded its payments app Google Tez into Google Pay, introduced new features and widened its scope with new tie-ups. At its annual event Google for India, the tech giant announced its partnership with private banks to facilitate pre-approved loans instantly to Google Pay customers. Using the Google Pay app, customers will soon be able to get loans from HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Federal Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank. “In the coming weeks, these customers will be able to use Google Pay to take out a customised loan amount from their banks, with minimal paperwork, and once they accept the bank’s terms, the money is deposited securely and instantly by their bank, into their bank account," Google’s general manager (payments) Caesar Sengupta said. Launched first in India last September as Google Tez, the re-branded Google Pay will now be offered in other countries too. Google said it will be unifying all of Google’s payment offerings globally. “The world has certainly taken notice of India’s digital payments success and our deep investments here with Tez. Many governments are asking us to work with them to bring similar digital payments innovations to their countries," Google said. Your simple, secure payments experience remains just the same. Everything you love about Tez is now moving to #GooglePay. #GoogleForIndia pic.twitter.com/RQCmOQqGjw — Google Pay India (@GooglePayIndia) August 28, 2018 Google says it has 22 million monthly active users on Google Pay who have made over 750 million transactions with average annual transaction of 2 lakh crore. As its expands the scope of Google Pay, the service will soon be available at over 2,000 online merchants and e-commerce websites including Redbus, BookMyShow, Mi and Goibibo, besides over 15,000 retail stores like Big Bazaar, e-Zone, and FBB. View Full Image Google CEO Sundar Pichai had said Tez is central to the company’s India strategy and also key to its global payments push. The payments app has localized, supporting several Indian languages, and is chasing young users with games that offer cashbacks. Paytm remains India’s largest digital payments company claiming to have 150 million app downloads. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.