Google announced Tez, a mobile app for digital payments and commerce, built with the goal of working for everyone in India. The app is available now for download on Google Play (Android) and the App Store (iOS).
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). Tez works in partnership with four Banks — Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and State Bank of India (SBI) — to facilitate the processing of payments across over 50 UPI enabled banks.
Introducing the new payments and commerce app, Caesar Sengupta, Vice President of the Next Billion Users team at Google, said, “We are deeply committed to bringing the best of Google’s technologies to Indian users, and Tez takes that to the next level. 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. Today is the start of a new journey for us. We look forward to bringing more features and innovations to meet people’s needs, and providing businesses with more ways to interact with their customers.”
At the event launch , 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.