Tech Giant Google is advocating for new ways to generate revenue in its bid to transition ‘also’ into a fintech company, and will reportedly start digital lending services through its UPI-powered GPay platform very soon. This comes via a report in Business Standard, which states that Google is forming alliances with several fintech firms for the same, with Bengaluru based platform ZestMoney already on board.
Every major Silicon Valley company is trying to stretch itself into a fintech conglomerate, with Facebook Pay and Google’s GPay being prime example of this phenomena. Digital lending has been generating a lot of momentum, with popular online wallet Paytm starting loans as a deferred payment option for consumers and to merchants as credit lines back in July last year.
Google is not one to not move with the times, and has thus been making numerous efforts to expand into the market of digital lending. With a partnership with platforms like ZestMoney, the company plans to provide credit to its consumers, to expand its presence in India’s financial market. Inc 42’s sources state that ZestMoney has already received ‘several thousands of applications’. The feature is already available on Android, and will make its way to the iOS version of the app in the coming months.
Using the feature, users will be able to avail credit from the Google Pay app, which can be used across a vast plethora of online and offline stores, including Flipkart, Amazon, Myntra and many more. The exact amount of available credit will vary from person to person, much like a real bank.
Lizzie Chapman, CEO & Co-Founder at ZestMoney confirmed the announcement in a post on LinkedIn, “When we started our ZestMoney journey, we never could have foreseen the developments that #DigitalIndia and #UPI have brought to drive financial inclusion to the last mile. Our latest partnership with Google is one more step towards driving access for all ”
The search giant has some sense of familiarity with India’s financial technology sector, having made multiple bets in it over the past few years. Last month, the company announced that will roll out a credit feature for small and medium enterprises on its payment platform GPay, hoping to launch it by the year’s end. It has partnered with multiple indigenous banks, including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Federal Bank, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank for this functionality.
At its ‘Google for India’ event this year, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai announced a massive ‘Google For India Digitization Fund’, with a plan to invest $10 billion in the country over the next 5 to 7 years. The investment will focus on 4 key areas, which when put together, will “Make the Internet helpful for a billion Indians and empower India to become a leading digital economy,”. Digital lending is a big piece of that puzzle, and hence the renewed focus from the company.
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