Technology giant Google on Wednesday announced a deeper integration with State Bank of India (SBI) for its mobile payments app, Tez. The integration will allow Tez users to now create a SBI Unified Payments Interface (UPI) id - @oksbi and get access to exclusive offers for SBI customers.
State Bank of India, chairman Rajnish Kumar, also spoke about the potential of the digital payments industry and outlined a strategic intent by both SBI and Google's Tez to work towards a wider adoption of digital payments.
The two will focus on building unique propositions for users and merchants including specially curated offers.
"We are committed to create an enabling environment to promote digital payments for more Indians. We already have a multitude of services including e-commerce and m-commerce, and this partnership with Google Tez will drive innovation and deliver exciting new opportunities for our 40 crore plus customer base. Our shared commitment to excellence in customer service and bringing simple and secure payments for all will boost adoption of UPI and is a significant step forward in the digitization of cash," said Kumar.
"We are very excited about the growth of Tez and our partnership with State Bank of India. We're delighted to be working closely together to build unique propositions for users and create innovative solutions for merchants to go digital. We are still in very early stages of building a vibrant digital payments ecosystem - that brings together millions of smartphone users, small merchants, large businesses, and financial institutions. This is an important step forward in that journey," said vice president, head, Finance and Commerce products, Next Billion Users, Diana Layfield.
Tez, since its launch in September 2017, has processed over 250 million transactions and has over 13.5 million monthly active users, across India, from the major cities to Kashmir and Kanyakumari.
The platform is built on the Indian government-supported UPI, allowing users, free of charge, to make small or big payments straight from their bank accounts to the accounts of others from over 70 UPI enabled banks.