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Google Tez gets chat features in India, inches closer to rival WhatsApp
- Google Tez is set to allow users to send simple messages to contacts about payments.
- The move comes soon after WhatsApp added the ability to make payments to its messaging app.
- The feature is now rolling out but may take a while to hit all devices.
Google is updating its Tez payment app with the ability to send and receive messages. The move comes only a few weeks after WhatsApp added the ability to make payments through its app in India.
Gadgets 360 reported that the chat features will allow users to send simple messages to contacts about the payments they make and that it will be rolled out slowly throughout the coming weeks.
Google Tez is a person to person payment app that launched in India last year. It allows users to send money to each other, as well as make online payments and pay utility bills.
It, and WhatsApp, are based on the Indian government’s Unified Payment Interface standard – a system that allows the services to send money directly from one bank account to another, rather than through the use of a virtual wallet.
While Google Tez has been fairly successful since its launch – Google recently reported that it has 12 million users – this is nowhere near as many as the reported 200 million that use WhatsApp. However, given the fact that its primary use is as a payments platform, it is well ahead in terms of its share of UPI payments. Recent data suggested that Tez accounted for 70% of all UPI transactions between October and November.
Now that both apps are starting to step on each other’s toes in terms of the services that they provide, it will be interesting to see how these numbers change over time.