Google plans to join India’s BFSI to fuel financial digital journey

By Gloria Mathias

Google has announced a slew of new efforts for India, partnering with Indian firms across banking, finance, and cyber safety organisations and supporting national efforts like Bhashini and ONDC at its annual flagship event, ‘Google for India’.

It also announced its plans to manufacture Pixel smartphones in India, strengthening its commitment to bringing the best hardware and underlying built-in software capabilities to people across the country.

This partnership in India’s digital financial journey encompasses AI integration, SME solutions, enhancing online safety, fostering local collaborations, and more. Google Pay’s introduction in response to the government’s invitation strengthened financial inclusion.

Google Pay’s launch in India, in response to the government’s invitation, strengthened the UPI-based digital payment system and promoted financial inclusion in the country. GPay is collaborating with its partners with banks and NBFCs to create products that are aimed at addressing the credit gap in India.

These products are underwritten by regulator-authorized financial institutions and made available to users through the Google Pay platform. They also form the foundation of Google Pay’s Digital Pragati initiative, aimed at growing economic opportunities for every Indian.

Google has also launched ‘DigiKavach’ to combat online financial fraud in India. To truly harness the transformative power of digital, ensuring the safety and security of every individual online becomes not just a necessity but an imperative.

DigiKavach is Google’s concerted effort to combat online financial fraud at scale. This programme is studying the modus operandi of scammers, developing and implementing countermeasures to new emerging scams, and responsibly sharing these insights with experts and partners to collectively help create a safer and more secure digital ecosystem for all.

Google has collaborated with the ‘Fintech Association for Consumer Empowerment’ and onboarded them as a priority flagger to combat predatory digital lending apps on the Play Store in India. ‘FACE’ will support Google with market intelligence to inform detection and enable swift action against personal loan apps in India that are non-compliant with the Play Store’s policies.