Google rebrands payments app ahead of international assault

Google has announced it will rebrand its Indian digital payments app, Tez, to Google Pay as the team readies a launch into new international markets.

Only two years ago many would have considered India a distant, slow-follower of the digital revolution, with the economy still largely being governed by cash (imagine that) and smartphone penetration exceptionally low for its stature. The inspiration of Reliance Jio seems to have tempted the country into the virtual society, and the digital appetite of consumers has been almost insatiable. Not only have data consumption rates sky rocketed, the craving for digital services is clearly apparent.

Google is one of the companies which has benefited considerably with the desire to be digital. Having launched last September, Tez has been adopted by 22 million people in 300,000 cities, towns and villages across the country. During this period, Tez users have made more than 750 million transactions, worth more than $30 billion. The app currently supports 2,000 apps and websites, though this number is set to be supercharged, tying up with digital services such as Uber as well as offline channels including the likes of Big Bazaar, e-Zone, and FBB.

Aside from retail and partner push, the team will also expand to cover micro-loans. Partnerships with banks such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Federal Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank will enable customers to have pre-approved loans paid directly into Google Pay.

While these might seem like incredible numbers, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India released figures recently suggesting there are 1.14 billion, with Android holding more than 80% of the market share. With only 22 million users currently, the potential for Google’s digital payment app here is massive. And this is only one country. Admittedly it is the second largest in the world by population, and one of the most lucrative when you look at mobile payment adoption, but the decision to rebrand the payment solution is with expansion in mind.

“We have learnt that when we build for India, we build for the world, and we believe that many of the innovations and features we have pioneered with Tez will work globally,” said Caesar Sengupta GM of the Payments business and Next Billion Users Initiative at Google.

“The world has certainly taken notice of India’s digital payments success and our deep investments here with Tez. Many governments are asking us to work with them to bring similar digital payments innovations to their countries.”

Google Payments already exists in 20 markets, though Tez is designed for the Indian market, and this seems to be what has interested the currently un-named governments. To launch a business on the international scene, it makes sense to have a single brand, and it would also be a smart bet to leverage one of the most powerful and influential brands worldwide; Google. According to Brand Finance, Google has the third most valuable brand worldwide, only falling behind Amazon and Apple, explaining the decision.

There might be some stories regarding misinformation and suspect privacy settings, but the Google brand is still one of the most recognisable and trusted worldwide. Ditching the Tez tag is a sensible idea.