Google Pay ventures into Indian lending market

Google India unveiled a new initiative on its Google Pay application aimed at assisting small businesses in the country. Recognizing the need for smaller loans among Indian merchants, the tech giant introduced "sachet loans" on Google Pay.

Under this program, Google India will provide loans to small businesses, starting as low as ₹15,000, with the added benefit of easy repayment options, as low as ₹111. To make this possible, Google India has joined forces with DMI Finance to offer these loan services.

Also read/watch - Festive Season 2023: Amazon Pay starts EMIs on RuPay credit cards for online shopping

Additionally, Google Pay has introduced a credit line feature in collaboration with ePayLater, addressing the working capital requirements of merchants. This credit line can be utilized both online and offline to purchase necessary stock and supplies from various distributors.

In its ongoing efforts to support financial services through Google Pay, Google India has also introduced credit lines in partnership with ICICI Bank and expanded its range of personal loans by teaming up with Axis Bank.

Ambarish Kenghe, Vice President at Google Pay, highlighted the significant value of ₹167 lakh crore processed through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) over the past year. Notably, more than half of the loans distributed through Google Pay have benefited borrowers with a monthly income of less than ₹30,000, with a majority residing in tier 2 towns and beyond.

Also read/watch - Success of 'Jawan' and 'Gadar 2' allows PVR INOX to report its best-ever quarter with Rs 166 crore profit

Furthermore, Google India introduced other measures to support small businesses, such as the Google Merchant Center Next, which leverages artificial intelligence to automatically populate a merchant's product feed with data extracted from their website. This feature provides merchants with greater control over the content added to their feed.

India's lending landscape

Amid a surge in disbursals witnessed during the previous fiscal year, India's fintech startups, including some of the most highly valued companies, are embracing digital lending. This trend highlights the substantial potential within India's credit-hungry market. Notably, fintech startups such as PhonePe, with Walmart's backing, and Jar, supported by Tiger Global, have launched digital lending services in the current year.