Google has launched a mobile payments app in India, called Tez. Tez links directly to users' bank accounts and allows users to make payments via the app both in physical stores and online. The app is free to download and because it works by connecting directly to the user's bank account rather than forcing them to move their money in and out of a mobile wallet, there are no transfer fees. Tez works with all 55 banks in India that have signed up to the government's digital payments initiative, known as the Unified Payment Interface or UPI. As more banks join the UPI, it is expected that these will automatically link to Tez as well. The app faces stiff competition from existing Indian payment mobile methods, such as Paytm which is a popular mobile wallet app in the country with over 200 million users. Google has said that it hopes that Tez will help to bring India one step closer to the country's ambition to become a digitally empowered nation.
