Google’s Tez will take India closer to digital transformation: Sundar Pichai | HT Tech

Google’s Tez will take India closer to digital transformation: Sundar Pichai

Google’s Indian-born CEO Sundar Pichai has said that the launch of the search giant’s new digital payment app, Tez, in India will take the country one step closer to digital transformation. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launched the app in New Delhi on September 18.

By:INDO ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
| Updated on: Sep 19 2017, 12:10 IST
Built on the Indian government-supported Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Tez allows users, free of charge, to make small or big payments straight from their bank accounts.
Built on the Indian government-supported Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Tez allows users, free of charge, to make small or big payments straight from their bank accounts. (REUTERS)
Built on the Indian government-supported Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Tez allows users, free of charge, to make small or big payments straight from their bank accounts.
Built on the Indian government-supported Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Tez allows users, free of charge, to make small or big payments straight from their bank accounts. (REUTERS)

A day after Google launched its new digital payment app Tez in India, the company's Indian-born CEO Sundar Pichai on Tuesday tweeted it will help India move closer to digital transformation. "We hope that the launch of @TezByGoogle will help take India one step closer to your vision of @_DigitalIndia," Pichai tweeted.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who launched the app here had said the idea of Tez was discussed by Pichai in January, just after demonetisation. "Google saw a great potential in Indian economy and businesses," Jaitley said, adding that Google's new digital payments app over the next few months was likely to make major advances in digital transaction volumes.

Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Arun Jaitley with Caesar Sengupta VP, next Billion Users, ( second from right), Google's vice-president for South East Asia and India, Rajan Anandan (right), Diana Layfield Vice-president Finance and Commerce Products Next Billion Users ( left) launch the Google Digital Payment app TEZ in New Delhi on September 18.
Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Arun Jaitley with Caesar Sengupta VP, next Billion Users, ( second from right), Google's vice-president for South East Asia and India, Rajan Anandan (right), Diana Layfield Vice-president Finance and Commerce Products Next Billion Users ( left) launch the Google Digital Payment app TEZ in New Delhi on September 18. (Sonu Mehta/HT PHOTO)
image caption
Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Arun Jaitley with Caesar Sengupta VP, next Billion Users, ( second from right), Google's vice-president for South East Asia and India, Rajan Anandan (right), Diana Layfield Vice-president Finance and Commerce Products Next Billion Users ( left) launch the Google Digital Payment app TEZ in New Delhi on September 18. (Sonu Mehta/HT PHOTO)

Built on the Indian government-supported Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Tez allows users, free of charge, to make small or big payments straight from their bank accounts. The app was built for India, working on the vast majority of the country's smartphones and available in English and seven Indian languages (Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu). The app works in partnership with four Banks -- Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India -- to facilitate the processing of payments across over 50 UPI-enabled banks.

According to D D Mishra, Research Director, Gartner, Tez provides promising features which are in-line with the requirements. "It is too early to say whether it can be a game changer as evolution in this business is going to continue, but yes it has the capabilities to bring some disruption as of now," Mishra said in a statement.

Moreover, Google's information about an individual's preferences can play a good role in enabling business to know their preferences and provide offers with interesting options. "The mobile wallet industry too, is evolving and we are at an interesting stage in this competition. Eventually, UPI payments will have an upper hand if it continues to remain free and provide better security, convenience and add more Value Added Services," Mishra informed.

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First Published Date: 19 Sep, 12:09 IST
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