Google seeks RBI approval for entry into India's digital payments space

Facebook, WhatsApp among two other tech giants looking to integrate India's UPI into their services

Google has sought the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s approval to integrate the government-promoted Unified Payments Interface (UPI) with its Android Pay application, marking its entry into India’s fast-growing digital payments space.

“Google’s testing is almost complete and the NPCI is waiting for RBI approval,” said A P Hota, managing director a of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). “Let me not give any timeline because the RBI would like to take their own time for things like this.”

In India, nine of 10 smartphones sold run on Google’s Android operating system, giving the company access to hundreds of millions of