Google payments app lives up to its name

Tez clocks 5 mn downloads in a month

One month into the country’s digital payment system and Google’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) app, Tez, has seen over 5 million installations, with strong repeat usage.

While the digital payments space has been booming over the past year, following the government’s demonetisation initiative, the eco-system has not stabilised. Paytm has over 100 million users but government-promoted UPI has begun to disrupt these prepaid payment instruments (PPIs).

Google entered a year late but competition is still scarce. So far, only the National Payments Corporation of India’s BHIM app and Flipkart-owned PhonePe have managed over 10 million users. Infotech giant Google has got halfway there in a month.

“Sometimes, there is a late-mover advantage as well when the technology or concept is emerging and one can learn from others’ mistakes. The Indian market has huge opportunity and despite the presence of a number of players, is hugely untapped,” said D D Mishra, research director at Gartner, the IT research and advisory entity.

With the big opportunity, he says, there’s space for new entrants which can bring differentiated products. Changes in regulation have made entry easier and while Google is the first global IT major to tap the potential of UPI, there’s Facebook, WhatsApp and Apple also on the way.

On the surface, Google’s Tez seems similar to the BHIM app; however, there are new features. Tez is the first app that uses multiple banking partners to power its UPI service. It also has a cash mode that uses unique audio frequencies for pairing two nearby devices to enable payments. Google’s Tez Shield that is powered by machine learning to detect fraud is a feature that addresses a user’s fear of losing money. “Users are finding the audio QR/cash mode transaction very easy to use. Audio QR usage is five times the normal QR codes on Tez. Given the high merchant adoption of UPI, we’re seeing users use Tez to pay for their daily transits, food and entertainment, grocery payments, and high value transactions like rent and flights,” said Diana Layfield, vice-president for product management at Google.