Google announced Tez, a simple and secure mobile app for digital payments and commerce in partnership with four Banks — Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and State Bank of India (SBI).
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, Gujrati, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu.
Introducing the new payments and commerce app, Caesar Sengupta, Vice President of the Next Billion Users, Google said, “Tez was built for India first — and starts us on a journey to make digital payments simpler and more accessible to everyone. We want to combine the best of Google with the best from our partners — Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and State Bank of India — to supercharge digital payments and commerce for as many Indians as possible and help them get the most from every rupee.”
Diana Layfield, Vice President, Head of Finance & Commerce Products, Next Billion Users said, “With Tez, we are not just building an app but working towards a digital ecosystem that brings together millions of smartphone users, small merchants, large businesses, and financial institutions — all built on the UPI infrastructure that NPCI and the Indian government have taken great initiative in developing.
Tez’s Cash Mode securely sends money from person to person with just a few taps. Tez syncs with the contact list in users’ phones, in accordance with their privacy settings.
An integration with Chrome makes mobile web payments just like paying in an app, and users can quickly get to a business’s website or contact customer support, right from Tez so they don’t need install an app for every business they engage with. Tez works with all 50+ UPI-enabled banks, so that money stays in users’ bank accounts until they need to use it. Tez users continue to earn interest from their banks and have their deposits backed by bank security guarantees. There is no need to reload a digital wallet.
Tez is backed by multiple security levels, including dedicated security systems offered by Indian banks, the NPCI, and the Tez Shield — Google’s suite of security features, including a machine-learning-based fraud detection engine, device level protection, including a Google PIN, and no sharing of phone numbers or bank account numbers via Cash Mode.
With each eligible transaction, Tez users have the opportunity to win Tez Scratch Cards worth up to ₹1,000 and get enrolled for the weekly Lucky Sundays draw of ₹1 lakh.
At the launch event, Google also announced a program called “Tez for Business,” which offers businesses new ways to unlock the potential of digital payments and engage their customers.
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