The Global Fintech Fest (GFF) concluded on Friday. At the three-day event, tech giant Google made some key announcements about the features and partnerships that will soon be available to Google Pay users. Google has said that with Google Pay it has consistently aimed to bring convenience and simplicity to Indian consumers, especially the way they use payments and finance.
The key features and partnerships announced by Google include launch of UPI Circle, UPI Vouchers aka eRupi, Clickpay QR scan for Bill Payments, Prepaid Utilities payment, Tap & Pay with RuPay Cards, and Autopay for UPI Lite. Here’s a look at how these features can make payments safe and secure.
UPI Circle
This latest offering from Google Pay is a feature that has been designed to help users close and trusted ones to make digital payments without the need to link their own bank account. In its official blog, Google said that although UPI has simplified digital transactions for millions, there is still a large swath of users that heavily rely on cash and/or is hesitant to use UPI due to various reasons.
With this new feature, more Indians will be able to pay their bills safely or shop online by assigning them to a trusted contact. This according to Google is the core ethos behind UPI Circle. The feature allows an existing UPI user on Google Pay to add their family members or friends as secondary users to their UPI Circle. The user will get two options – Partial Delegation, where they can retain full control and approve each payment request from the secondary user, and Full Delegation, which allows the user to set a limit of up to Rs 15,000 further allowing the secondary user to make payments independently within the set limit.
UPI Vouchers or eRupi
Google has termed UPI vouchers as an innovative way to help someone pay digitally, by offering them a prepaid voucher linked to their mobile number. The recipients of these vouchers will be able to use any supporting UPI app including Google Pay to pay for all their supported merchant transactions without having to link their banking account to UPI. The tech giant has collaborated with NPCI and the Department of Financial Services to bring UPI Vouchers feature to millions.
Clickpay QR scan for Bill Payments
Google has introduced this feature in partnership with NPCI Bharat Billpay. With ClickPay QR Scan users can now pay their bills on Google Pay by simply scanning a (ClickPay) QR using the existing QR scanner. This weeds out the need to remember bill account details and lengthy consumer IDs. Meanwhile, billers can generate customized QR codes at a bill account level and present them at their point of sale, email, or other digital surfaces. The latest bill is automatically fetched when a ClickPay QR is scanned allowing users to make payments instantly.
Prepaid Utilities Payment
The Prepaid Utilities Payment has been introduced to its supported recurring payment categories in collaboration with NPCI Bharat Billpay. This feature allows users to discover their prepaid utility providers or aggregators, even link their energy accounts and pay seamlessly with UPI. Google said that as more billers get onboarded into this category, users will benefit from the ease of tracking all their recurring payments with a single checklist on Google Pay.
Tap & Pay with RuPay Cards
Tap & Pay for RuPay Cards is yet another collaboration with NPCI and will enable millions of RuPay users to use their mobile phone for fast and safe payments. With this users can add their RuPay card to Google Pay, and tap their mobile phone to any card machine to pay. The 16-digit card number is not stored with Google Pay. One can carry out transactions without a physical card.
Autopay for UPI Lite
This feature simplifies small ticket purchases or transfers. Autopay for UPI Lite allows automatic top-ups for a user’s UPI Lite account when the balance is below a certain amount. With this users can now use UPI Lite without worrying about running short on their Lite balance.