Google Wallet and Android Pay are big name payment systems around the World, but the Mountain View Company seems to be planning something special for India. According to a news website called The Ken (locked behind a paywall), Google will launch a new mobile payment system called Tez, in India.
The website dug up some trademark filings to find these pictures, which stand as proof of existence of the upcoming service.
Tez (the Hindi word for fast) will apparently offer support for UPI ( Unified Payments Interface) and will likely go head on with Paytm, Mobikwik, Freecharge and other competitors. The name of the brand suggests that it will be an India exclusive service. According to Engadget, Tez will have a dedicated app when it is launched.
So, the question is why a new payment system when Google Wallet and Android Pay exist?
Well, the majority of Indians do not own a credit card, which is basically essential for Google Wallet. As per the RBI rules, debit cards which do not have international transactions enabled, will not work with payments made via an overseas Gateway. Android Pay (which is not available in India) only exists in a dozen Countries, and that requires NFC in the phone to work, which is not available in most devices sold in India. This includes the recently launched Xiaomi Mi A1 Android One, partnered by Google.
So, a mobile wallet which users can use with their debit card (with OTP 2 factor authentication enabled) seems the right way for Google to capture the market.
We can see from the trademark application that it will support electronics funds transfer, contactless payment services, NFC, etc, It seems to be targeting an offline presence as well as digital payments, so it seems like a good move. But it will be interesting to see which services will support Google Tez. We are guessing Google Play Store is a no brainer, and it may likely partner with mobile service providers for recharging subscriptions.
According to the report, Google Tez could be launched on September 18th in India.