Google Tez app has joined the ranks of digital payments apps in India with the launch on Monday. With already established players like PayTM, PhonePe, and the official app BHIM, the Google Tez app has its work cut out. This isn’t a digital wallet service like PayTM, but uses your bank account to send and receive money. One of the unique features included in Google Tez app is “Cash Mode” which helps you send money without needing the recipient's number or QR codes, instead using an audio matching system. If you are curious about the app, and considering signing up for it, here are 8 things you need to know about the Google Tez app:
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- The Google Tez app is available on Android as well as iOS, and supports various local languages, including Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu. To register, it asks for your mobile number associated with your bank accounts to set up the app. You are given a list of banks to select from.
- Once you have entered your phone number, the app sends an SMS from your number to the bank to get UPI access. It creates a fresh UPI ID for you and links it to the Google account. On Android, the Google Account is selected by default as the one used on your phone, but you can change the ID by logging into the other account; the ID will be linked to one Google Account only. On iPhone, users are prompted to sign into their Google Accounts manually.
- Google Tez app creates a new UPI ID, or VPA, by picking up the name from the Gmail ID. We got a @okaxis UPI account when setting it up with a Kotak account (that's because Google hasn't tied up with Kotak for back-end processing) , but were assigned an @okicici UPI account when setting up with ICICI (it has tied up with ICICI). You can't use your existing VPA with Google Tez app if you have one.
- If UPI is already enabled on that bank account you will be prompted to enter the UPI PIN. The account will be set up after this step, and is ready to use.
- To keep the Google Tez app secure you have the option of locking it down with your fingerprint on devices with a fingerprint scanner or using a PIN for the app. While you do have the option to keep the same PIN as screen unlock, we will strongly recommend that you set up a different PIN.
- Sending money using the app is fairly easy, you can tap in the payments tab. It lists all the contacts in your phone book with Google Tez app in one go. Apart from that you have the option to enter Account Number + IFSC details, UPI ID, Scan QR code, or Tez User Phone Number. You can make and receive payments from businesses as well.
- A new feature called Cash Mode is available in Google Tez app that lets you transfer money without having the recipient's phone number. To do this, it transmits audio using Google’s QR Technology to identify the recipients phone near you. We tried this feature and it worked as advertised even in a noisy environment, though we must add that it took longer than we expected.
- To incentivise Tez app, Google is offering users Rs. 51 for referring new users to use the app. After a referral both people will get the money added to their bank accounts. Apart from this, using the app to transfer money (Rs. 50 and above) awards both the sender and the recipient Google Tez Scratch Cards, with one scratch card per week for the sender-recipient. Scratch card gives user the chance to earn up to Rs. 1,000, which is transferred back to bank account. Users can earn a maximum of 10 rewards per week, up to a total of Rs. 9,000 per financial year. There are two types of Google Tez Scratch Cards. The blue ones are awarded to both sender and recipient, while one red ‘Lucky Sundays’ is awarded to the sender only once per week. This red Google Tez Scratch Card is locked until the Sunday, and users will be able to scratch it for a chance to win up to Rs. 1 lakh, Google said.