US tech behemoths are eyeing a bigger slice of the financial services pie in India.
Close on the heels of Facebook offering loans to small businesses, rival Google has partnered Equitas Small Finance Bank to offer time deposits.
Google Pay users can book fixed deposits with Equitas Small Finance Bank without the need to open a savings bank account with the lender.
Equitas on Thursday said that being an RBI recognised scheduled commercial bank, customers can get returns of up to 6.35 per cent for one year fixed deposits. Besides, there is a guarantee of up to Rs 5 lakh per depositor. On maturity, the proceeds will automatically go to the Google Pay user’s existing linked bank account.
Equitas said it has used APIs (application programming interface) built by fintech infrastructure provider Setu to integrate with Google Pay’s Spot platform.
Setu provides developers with modular tools that allows them to build financial products for the specific needs of their users. Google Pay users already have access to the capital market and instant loans among its financial services offering.
Rapid growth
Google Pay has seen a considerable growth in volume of transaction on its platform, driven largely by the digital payments requirement during the pandemic.
According to data from NPCI, a total of 1119.16 million UPI transactions happened through Google Pay in July 2021 against 640.95 million transactions in the corresponding previous period. In June 2021, the total transaction volume was 972.26 million. Google Pay competes with Walmart backed PhonePe and Softbank backed Paytm in India.
“We firmly believe that as more people gain access to formal tools to manage their money, their ability to build assets not only improves the welfare of their households, but also sets in motion a virtuous cycle of societal progress,” said Murali Vaidyanathan, senior president and country head, Equitas Small Finance Bank.
“By providing FDs through Google Pay, we remain committed more than ever to being a catalyst in the convergence of increasing income, evolving access, and affordability of financial services,” Vaidyanathan, said.
