Google Tez: Everything you need to know

Google Tez made its debut in India earlier this month, marking the company's entry into the digital payments segment. Tez relies on UPI — the centralized payments interface rolled out last year — to enable peer-to-peer money transfers, and while the service can also facilitate online payments, that feature is still in its infancy. If you're just getting started with Tez or are looking to learn more about the service, here's what you need to know.

How do I install Google Tez?

Installing Tez is relatively straightforward: go to g.co/tez or head to the Play Store to download the app. Once it's installed, you'll need to link your bank account to the service. Tez uses a phone number for money transfers, so you'll need to provide the same number while setting up the service that's registered with your bank.

Hit up the link below for detailed instructions on how to set up Tez and add your bank accounts:

How to install and set up Google Tez

How does Tez work?

Tez is a mobile payments service that works on the Unified Payments Interface platform. Unlike Paytm, it isn't a digital wallet, so you won't be able to store money in Tez.

Every time you register a bank account with Tez, the service creates a new UPI ID for that account. Google's offering isn't the first to leverage UPI payments — there are over 30 such apps available in the country — but Tez relies on just the phone number to transfer money. So even if you don't know the UPI account details of the recipient, you will be able to send money by just entering a Tez user's phone number.

In addition to UPI, Tez allows you to send money the old-fashioned way: by entering the bank account details and the IFSC code. You can use QR codes, like Paytm, to send and receive money as well. Google is also offering a new feature called Cash Mode that uses audio QR to transfer money from nearby Tez users.

How can I use Tez's Cash Mode?

Cash Mode is an interesting feature in Tez that lets you send or receive money from nearby users without having to add their details. For instance, if you're looking to make a payment to someone in your vicinity, you'll need to toggle Cash Mode to pay, and the recipient has to set it to receive. Once that's done, Tez will start looking for nearby users by emitting an ultrasound signal that's inaudible to humans.

Tez will list all available users in the vicinity, and you can select the intended recipient from the list and pay without having to key in a phone number or the UPI ID.

What banks does Tez support?

Tez works with all banks that have registered with the NPCI over the UPI platform. That list currently includes 55 banks, with payments handled by four partners: Axis, HDFC, ICICI, and SBI. For instance, if you have an account with Kotak, it's likely your payments are processed through Axis' UPI gateway.

You can easily view the balance in your linked bank account. Just tap your photo (top left corner), select your bank account, and tap the View balance button.

Can I use Tez for online purchases?

In addition to money transfers, Tez can also be used for online payments. The list of partners is limited right now — you can use Tez at RedBus, PVR, Jet Airways, and Domino's, but that list will undoubtedly grow in the coming months.

Google is also adding the ability to pay for games and apps on the Play Store via Tez in the future.

Is Tez available in my language?

English is the default language for Tez, but the service is available in seven regional languages: Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu. Google will be adding more languages shortly.

What is the daily transaction limit in Tez?

As Tez relies on UPI, the transaction thresholds for the platform come into play when using the service. That means a daily transaction limit of 1 lakh spread across 20 transactions. You will be able to see all your transactions in a conversation view, making it easy to see what your payments history on the platform.

How secure is Tez?

When setting up Tez, you have to create a PIN for the app as well as a separate UPI PIN for your bank account. You can use your current screen lock — PIN, pattern, or fingerprint — as the mode of authentication for Tez, but you'll need to enter the UPI PIN before every transaction.

What offers can I avail with Tez?

To incentivize Tez usage, Google is rolling out a referral scheme that nets you ₹51 for every user you refer to the platform. The caveat here is that you'll only receive the amount once the referred user makes their first payment. The payment can be anything over ₹50, and both you and the referred user get ₹51 in return.

In addition to the referral program, Google is offering scratch cards that entail you to win up to 1 lakh.

What do you think of Tez?

Tez certainly has a lot of potential, and Google will undoubtedly be adding new features to the service over the coming months.

Did you get started with Tez? What features would you like to see in the payments service? Let us know in the comments below.