Google for India – Sachet loans to credit on UPI, tech giant bets on lending

• Google is looking to tap into its Google Pay user base to enter the lending segment.
• Google has partnered with banks and NBFCs to offer credit to merchants and consumers.
• Google Pay handles over 30% of the total UPI transactions in the country.

Search giant Google has made several major announcements for India at their annual Google for India event including its entry into the lending business, AI-powered initiatives and more.

While the company has made several announcements for its different applications and services such as Search, Google Cloud and more, its announcements related to Google Pay were a key highlight of the event.

Google is now entering the lucrative lending business in India, along with local partners. This is aimed at both small merchants and regular users. It is noteworthy that Google Pay enjoys a huge market share in India, handling over 30% of the total UPI transactions in the country.

“Just like UPI revolutionised digital payments, digitising credit – with consent and privacy safeguards – can provide ways of expanding the reach of formal credit. And the lower transaction cost of digital credit delivery can enable smaller minimum ticket loan sizes, making it more suitable and approachable for more borrowers,” Google said in a post.
Credit for merchants
Google has announced several credit facilities for merchants, aimed at offering improved access to credit. For this, the company has partnered with banks and NBFCs.
Merchant credit line
To help merchants get quicker access to a credit line for their working capital requirements, Google has announced a merchant credit line in partnership with ePayLater. This will be available to merchants, both online and offline, for the purchase of stock and supplies.
Sachet loans
Merchants looking for a smaller credit can instead opt for sachet loans, which is being offered in partnership with DMI finance. The sachet loans start as low as ₹15,000, with repayment options starting at ₹111.
Merchant loans
Google has also partnered with ICICI Bank and Indifi to offer seamless merchant loans and repeat loans.
Credit for consumers
It’s not just merchants, Google is also entering the consumer lending segment.
Personal loans on Google Pay
Google has partnered with Axis Bank to offer personal loans to customers on the Google Pay app. Google Pay is already offering personal loans through the app in partnership with DMI Finance and is expected to soon onboard more partners.
Credit on UPI
Google has partnered with ICICI Bank to offer Credit on UPI. What this essentially means is that customers will soon be able to avail credit lines from banks on UPI and use this credit line to make payments via the Google Pay app.

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