Reliance Jio's 2G-free India drive likely to hit Vodafone Idea hard

About 60% of Vodafone Idea's customer base is in the 2G space

Mukesh Ambani’s plan to make India ‘2G-mukt’ will hit the incumbent operators hard, especially Vodafone Idea given its large base of 2G subscribers. After racking up 100 million users for its 4G-enabled feature phones (JioPhone), Reliance Jio in partnership with Google is eyeing the entry-level smartphone segment. Jio is planning to win over 350 million 2G feature phone users by launching a smartphone ‘at a fraction of the current cost’.

Experts believe that Jio, which dominates the mobile broadband space (4G) with 58 per cent market share, could capture the incumbents’ market share in the feature phone segment with its new offering. While Bharti Airtel has 135 million 2G users, 47 per cent of its total subscriber base of 283 million, Vodafone Idea has 174 million 2G users, about 60 per cent of its total subscriber base of 291 million at the end of the March quarter.

Mayuresh Joshi, head of equity research at William O’Neil India, says: “Vodafone Idea has the highest 2G subscriber base among the top three operators. This coupled with a weak financial situation and inability to commit large capex investment will make it the most susceptible to subscriber loss. The ongoing churn for Vodafone could accelerate if Jio is able to launch a smartphone at a substantially lower cost in partnership with Google.”

58 Indian-origin executives employ over 3.6 mn across 11 countries: Survey

Indian leaders surveyed are as young as 37 and the median age is 54, according to a group called Indiaspora.

A group of 58 Indian-origin executives heading various companies across 11 different countries, including the US, Canada and Singapore, collectively employ more than 3.6 million people and account for a combined $1 trillion in revenue, $4 trillion in market capitalisation, according to a list released by a US-based top Indian diaspora organisation.

Indian-origin business leaders are reaching the pinnacle of corporate success in greater numbers than ever, many use their platforms for social change advocacy, said Indiaspora, a nonprofit organisation of global Indian diaspora leaders from various backgrounds and professions.

The Indiaspora Business Leaders List of 58 executives head companies headquartered across 11 different countries, including the US, Canada, England, and Singapore and these companies have delivered annualised returns of 23 per cent during the tenure of these executives, outperforming the S&P 500 by 10 per cent. These companies collectively employ more than 3.6 million worldwide and account for a combined $1 trillion in revenue and USD 4 trillion in market capitalisation...Read More

Google to pay some news publishers for content amid tensions with industry

The company said on Thursday that it plans to launch this year a licensing programme to pay publishers for high-quality content

Google says it will start paying some publishers for their news content, in a move that could pave the way for reduced tensions between the internet search giant and the beleaguered news industry. The company said on Thursday that it plans to launch this year a licensing programme to pay publishers for high-quality content. The programme will start with local and national publications in Germany, Australia and Brazil, “with more to come soon,” Brad Bender, vice president of product management, said in a blog post. This programme will help participating publishers monetise their content through an enhanced storytelling experience,” Bender said, describing it as a significant step forward in how the company will support high-quality journalism.

ALSO READ: Google brings group calling to Nest Hub Max, previews Google Meet featuresThe

programme’s articles will be available on Google’s News and Discover services. Google will also pay for users to read pay-walled articles. The tech giant has been fighting the news industry’s demands for compensation for years, in a battle that has taken on more urgency as the coronavirus pandemic caused advertising revenue at publishers to collapse. In April, France’s competition regulator ordered Google to pay publishers for using snippets of their content while Australia unveiled plans to make the company pay fair compensation for journalistic content siphoned from news media…Read More

Covid-19: Google helps ‘saathis’ share credible health info in rural India

We are helping female internet “saathis” (or trainers) share authoritative health advice with their networks in rural villages in India, says the company

As Covid-19 pandemic affects all sections of the society, Google said that its focus in the on-going crisis in Asia Pacific has been on prioritising three things: contributing to the immediate health response, helping people learn and work from home and supporting the small businesses most affected. The company said in a statement late Tuesday that in India, it is helping female internet “saathis” (or trainers) share authoritative health advice with their networks in rural villages.

“Our team in India has helped local governments share the location of night and food shelters on Google Maps,” said Scott Beaumont President, Asia Pacific. Google started showing the locations of Covid-19 test centres on Google Maps, Search and Assistant in Indonesia, before extending the feature to other countries around the world, including India, Korea and the Philippines.

ALSO READ: Apple, Google ban GPS tracking in apps using contract tracing framework

In Korea, the Google News Initiative is offering weekly sessions training journalists on how to identify misinformation. The Covid-19 pandemic began spreading across Asia Pacific in January, affecting millions of people directly. Google said that learners from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to have their schooling disrupted and their progress held back…Read Full Story

Zoom not a safe platform, says MHA advisory; SpaceX, Google ban use

The advisory further gives detailed instructions on the safe use of the platform including security configurations through website and app

The Ministry of Home Affairs on Thursday said in an advisory that video-conferencing software Zoom was not a safe platform, and was not for use by government offices or officials. “Zoom is a not a safe platform and advisory of Cert-In on the same dated Feb 06, 2020 and March 30, 2020, may kindly be referred,” said the advisory from the Cyber Coordination Centre under the MHA, dated April 12. The advisory further gave detailed instructions on the safe use of the platform, including security configurations through website and app.

Responding to the MHA advisory, a Zoom spokesperson said: “Zoom takes user security extremely seriously. A large number of global institutions ranging from the world’s largest financial services companies and telecommunications providers, to non-governmental organisations and government agencies, have done exhaustive security reviews of our user, network and datacenter layers and continue to use Zoom for most or all of their unified communications needs.”

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) put out an advisory on March 30 about “Secure usage of Zoom video conferencing application,” detailing the steps users should take to ensure their data remains protected.Salman Waris, managing partner at New Delhi-based specialist technology law firm TechLegis Advocates & Solicitors, said the issue is the Government both at the Centre and individual state level working remotely and using Zoom to conduct official meetings and discuss the emergency response. This includes planning a critical official strategy to Covid-19 having to operate outside the secured workplace and managing machine sprawl— when the numbers of virtual machines on a network increase, securing hundreds of thousands of endpoints becomes a much bigger challenge…Read More

Sundar Pichai named CEO at Google parent Alphabet after founders step down

In his statement, Pichai made it clear that the transition will not affect the Alphabet structure or the work they do day to day

Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have announced that they are stepping down from the leadership role of the parent company Alphabet. Google CEO Indian-American Sundar Pichai (47), will be assuming the role of Alphabet CEO, making him one of the most powerful corporate leaders of the world.

Considered as a significant shakeup in the Silicon Valley company, an announcement in this regard was made by Page and Brin in a letter to the company employees, which also included a statement from Pichai. With Alphabet now well-established, and Google and ‘Other Bets’ operating effectively as independent companies, it’s the natural time to simplify our management structure, wrote the two Google co-founders.

“We’ve never been ones to hold on to management roles when we think there’s a better way to run the company,” they said. “And Alphabet and Google no longer need two CEOs and a President. Going forward, Sundar Pichai will be the CEO of both Google and Alphabet. He will be the executive responsible and accountable for leading Google, and managing Alphabet’s investment in our portfolio of Other Bets,” said Page and Brin.

“We are deeply committed to Google and Alphabet for the long term, and will remain actively involved as Board members, shareholders and co-founders. In addition, we plan to continue talking with Sundar regularly, especially on topics we’re passionate about!” they wrote. In his statement, Pichai made it clear that the transition will not affect the Alphabet structure or the work they do day to day. “I will continue to be very focused on Google and the deep work we’re doing to push the boundaries of computing and build a more helpful Google for everyone,” he wrote….

After WhatsApp row, Google warned 500 Indians of ‘govt-backed’ hacking

The affected users were spread across 149 countries, and the number was similar to (up or down 10 per cent) the number of warnings sent in the same period of 2018 and 2017

Nearly a month after WhatsApp made its now controversial revelations about an Israeli software being used to snoop on Indian citizens, Google said on Tuesday that about 500 users from India were among 12,000 people informed about being targeted by ‘government-backed attackers’ between July and September this year.

The affected users were spread across 149 countries, and the number was similar to (up or down 10 per cent) the number of warnings sent in the same period of 2018 and 2017, Shane Huntley from Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) said in a blogpost. “Over 90 per cent of these users were targeted via ‘credential phishing emails’… these are usually attempts to obtain the target’s password or other account credentials to hijack their account,” he said.

As an example, Huntley explains how a phishing attempt works. An attacker sends an authentic-looking email, which can be made to look like it was sent from Google, with a security alert. A subtle difference in spelling like ‘Goolge’ would be the only difference and clue for the user. The mail suggests that the user secure their account. The user clicks the link, enters their password, and may also get asked for a security code if they have two-factor authentication enabled, allowing the attacker to access their account.

A phishing attack could also mimic an existing website or webpage and trick a user into entering confidential information on the page. Phishing attacks in India have been on the rise. In response to a question asked in Lok Sabha on Wednesday regarding cyberattacks in India,..Click Here

Google accused of creating a surveillance tool to curb worker dissent

Company says it’s an effort to curb calendar, meeting spam

Google employees are accusing the company’s leadership of developing an internal surveillance tool that they believe will be used to monitor workers’ attempts to organize protests and discuss labor rights.

Earlier this month, employees said they discovered that a team within the company was creating the new tool for the custom Google Chrome browser installed on all workers’ computers and used to search internal systems. The concerns were outlined in a memo written by a Google employee and reviewed by Bloomberg News and by three Google employees who requested anonymity because they aren’t authorized to talk to the press.

The tool would automatically report staffers who create a calendar event with more than 10 rooms or 100 participants, according to the employee memo. The most likely explanation, the memo alleged, “is that this is an attempt of leadership to immediately learn about any workers organization attempts.”

A representative for Alphabet Inc.’s Google said, “These claims about the operation and purpose of this extension are categorically false. This is a pop-up reminder that asks people to be mindful before auto-adding a meeting to the calendars of large numbers of employees.”

Google Assistant will listen to your conversations again, but ask first

Alphabet’s Google paused all human review of assistant audio in July after a Dutch contractor leaked some clips to a journalist, who was then able to identify specific people on the recordings

Google workers will listen to audio snippets of people speaking to its digital voice assistant to help improve the product’s quality — if users give the company permission to do so.

Alphabet’s Google paused all human review of assistant audio in July after a Dutch contractor leaked some clips to a journalist, who was then able to identify specific people on the recordings. On Monday, Google said it’s bringing back human reviewers, but adding a new set of precautions to protect customers’ privacy.

Google and other companies like Amazon.com use human transcription to check machine translators and make them smarter. The practice is widespread, but has made some users nervous that giant corporations are monitoring them. The companies maintain that audio snippets aren’t linked to personally identifiable information.

Under the new Google policy, the company will tell users that their audio may be listened to if they opt in to a feature that also improves audio quality, Nino Tasca, a senior product manager on Google’s Assistant team, said in a blog post. The company also is trying to more accurately recognize audio that was captured accidentally. Usually, the assistant only listens when a person says, “Hey, Google,” but occasionally the computer might misinterpret something else as that “wake word” and begin listening when the customer isn’t aware…

Read More: Business Standard

As companies struggle to get going, is Vietnam throwing away trade war win?

More and more businesses are complaining about congested ports and roads, rocketing costs for land and labor, and regulations that aren’t being loosened fast enough

Vietnam is finding it’s hard to win a trade war even when businesses are trying to hand you victories. The Southeast Asian growth engine has a young and growing middle class, a horde of free-trade agreements, and a booming manufacturing industry. Businesses from Alphabet Inc’s Google to Crate & Barrel Holdings Inc. are lining up to invest in the country as supply chains migrate from neighboring China, which served as the world’s factory for the better part of two decades.

But Vietnam is starting to see expectations outrun reality. More and more businesses are complaining about congested ports and roads, rocketing costs for land and labor, and regulations that aren’t being loosened fast enough. Tapestry Inc, owner of the Coach and Kate Spade brands, has lamented insufficient infrastructure investment that’s left some containers stalled on the waters. Eclat Textile Co, a supplier to Nike Inc, says it needs to diversify beyond Vietnam, including to cheaper locations.

If Vietnam isn’t able to fast-track progress in closing its infrastructure gap, it risks losing its “mini-China” status that has drawn so many of Bain & Co.’s toy-supplier clients there since 2015, said Gerry Mattios, Bain’s Singapore-based vice president. Costs could outweigh the benefits, sending producers to the likes of Sri Lanka or Cambodia, he said..

Not a good idea to break up biggest US tech companies, says Bill Gates

Microsoft is one of the few big U.S. technology companies not under regulatory scrutiny in Washington

Bill Gates, who knows a thing or two about antitrust investigations, doesn’t think it’s a good idea to break up the biggest U.S. tech companies as some politicians have suggested.

The Microsoft Corp. co-founder and former chief executive officer battled the Justice Department for years in the late 1990s in a bruising antitrust case. At issue was the software giant’s bundling of its Internet Explorer browser to Windows as a way to maintain its dominance in PC operating systems. Ultimately Microsoft remained intact.

Two decades later, Microsoft is one of the few big U.S. technology companies not under regulatory scrutiny in Washington. The Justice Department, the Federal Trade Commission, state attorneys general and a congressional committee are all scrutinizing so-called Big Tech — companies from Alphabet Inc.‘s Google to Facebook Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. — that Washington has concluded have gotten too big and too powerful. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a presidential candidate, has made a forceful and detailed plan about how she would go about breaking them up.

Gates disagrees. “You have to really think; is that the best thing?” Gates said in an interview on Bloomberg TV. “If there’s a way the company’s behaving that you want to get rid of, then, you should just say, ‘Okay, that’s a banned behavior.’ But splitting the company in two, and having two people doing the bad thing– that doesn’t seem like a solution.”

Google fined $170 million for violating children’s privacy on YouTube

Officials said YouTube violated the law that requires child-directed websites and online services to obtain parental consent prior to collecting personal information from children under 13

Google agreed Wednesday to pay $ 170 million to settle charges that it illegally collected and shared data from children on its YouTube video service, a deal critics said was too soft on the internet giant. The settlement with the Federal Trade Commission and the New York state Attorney General is the largest amount in a case involving the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, a 1998 federal law, officials said.

Officials said YouTube violated the law that requires child-directed websites and online services to obtain parental consent prior to collecting personal information from children under 13 which may be used for advertising.

The company marketed itself as a destination for children and benefitted by selling advertising to toymakers and others seeking to connect with young audiences, according to the FTC. FTC chairman Joe Simons said the settlement “prevents YouTube and Google from turning a blind eye to the existence of kids-directed content” on its platform.

Simons said the settlement makes Google liable for violations by third-party content creators, going beyond federal law that requires the platform to have knowledge that videos are directed at children…

Huawei’s new Mate 30 Pro to launch without Google apps due to US ban

The Chinese giant is expected to unveil its new Mate 30 Pro next month, making it the first top-line phone launch since the company was blacklisted by the US and forbidden from trading with American

The trade war between the USand China is about to take its biggest bite out of Huawei Technologies Co. yet, after Google confirmed the upcoming Huawei flagship phone won’t have licensed Google apps.

The Chinese giant is expected to unveil its new Mate 30 Pro next month, making it the first top-line phone launch since the company was blacklisted by the USand forbidden from trading with American partners. The Trump Administration signaled several times it would ease sanctions on Huawei, leaving uncertainty about its ability to work with American suppliers of chips and software. But Google has now said its licensed apps won’t be on the next device.

For Huawei, this effectively sinks the Huawei Mate 30 Pro in markets outside of its native China. Bloomberg News reported in June that the blacklisting could result in a 40% to 60% drop in overseas sales. A senior Huawei executive said this month restrictions would cost its consumer business about $10 billion in revenue growth, a “little less” than billionaire founder Ren Zhengfei’s initial estimate.

“Huawei can’t survive outside of China as a brand without Google apps and services,” said Anshel Sag, mobile industry analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. “Everyone outside the country knows and is accustomed to using its software and services, even iPhone users. So, for Huawei not to offer those to their customers will be a major loss.”

Huawei may lose access to Google Android OS, apps after Trump blacklist

Huawei will continue to have access to the version of the Android operating system available through the open source license

Technology News: Letters in order Inc’s Google has suspended business with Huawei that requires the exchange of equipment and programming items aside from those secured by open source licenses, a source near the issue told Reuters on Sunday, in a hit to the Chinese innovation organization that the US government has looked to boycott far and wide.

Huawei Technologies Co Ltd will quickly lose access to updates to the Android working framework, and the following variant of its cell phones outside of China will likewise lose access to prominent applications and administrations including the Google Play Store and Gmail application.

Subtleties of the particular administrations were all the while being talked about inside at Google, as indicated by the source. Huawei lawyers are likewise concentrating the effect of the US Commerce Department’s activities, a Huawei representative said on Friday. Huawei was not quickly reachable for further remark. Agents of the US Commerce Department did not promptly have remark.

Huawei will keep on approaching the variant of the Android working framework accessible through the open source permit that is uninhibitedly open to any individual who wishes to utilize it. Be that as it may, Google will quit giving any specialized help and joint effort for Android and Google administrations to Huawei going ahead, the source said. On Thursday the Trump organization authoritatively added Huawei to an exchange boycott, quickly sanctioning limitations that will make it incredibly hard for the innovation monster to work with US organizations.

Google gives Mumbai lad Abdullah Khan Rs 1.2 crore job

21-year-old engineering student from Mumbai, Abdullah Khan was spotted by Google on a website that hosts online programming challenges

If you thought landing a job at top global companies like Google, Facebook was only possible through IITs or IIMs in India, the story of this 21-year-old Mumbai youth will make you rethink. A final year engineering student of Shree LR Tiwari Engineering College, Abdullah Khan has been hired by Google at a package of Rs 1.2 crore per year, according to a report in the Times of India. Khan will join Google’s site reliability engineering team in September.

The student, the report says, was spotted by the tech giant on a website that hosts online programming challenges. Khan then had to go through a few rounds of online interviews and a final screening at Google’s office in London.

The offer took Khan by surprise as he had not expected any such thing while participating in competitions on that site. “I used to participate as it was fun. I did not even know that firms check programmers’ profiles on such sites,” he told TOI. Apart from Rs 54.5 lakh base salary, the six-figure package includes 15 per cent bonus and stock options worth Rs 58.9 lakh over four years.

In 2018 a few engineering students from India landed jobs at Google with staggering pay packages. Aditya Paliwal, then a student of integrated MTech at International Institute of Information Technology-Bangalore (IIIT-B), had received a job at Google’s Artificial Intelligence research wing with a pay package of Rs 1.2 crore per annum. IIT-Hyderabad student K Sneha Reddy had also landed a job at Google with a similar pay package.

No place for 'vile' child pornography, acting on user reports: WhatsApp

The comments came as the SC said the Centre and internet giants were in agreement that videos of rape, child pornography and objectionable material needed to be ‘stamped out’

Latest News: WhatsApp on Friday said child pornography has absolutely no place on the messaging platform and that it takes action against the dissemination of such content, including banning of accounts, based on user reports.Terming child pornography as “vile”, WhatsApp said it also responds to valid legal requests from law enforcement to investigate these types of crimes.

“While we cannot see the messages that people share with one another, we can and do take action based on user reports including banning accounts,” WhatsAppspokesperson said in a statement adding that child pornography has no place on the messaging platform.

The comments came as the Supreme Court Thursday said the Centre and internet giants, including Google, Microsoft and Facebook, were in agreement that videos of rape, child pornography and objectionable material needed to be “stamped out”.

A Bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and U U Lalit noted that intermediaries have “different reactions” to suggestions given earlier by the Centre, which included setting up pro-active monitoring tools for auto-deletion of unlawful content by deploying artificial intelligence based tools.

READ MORE – BUSINESS STANDARD OR BS

Sexual harassment row: Google India employees join protest in solidarity

Some of the demands include commitment to end pay and opportunity inequality

BS | Around 150 employees of Google India walked out of their offices in solidarity with the protest over the company’s treatment of women. The protest saw participation from three Indian offices — Mumbai, Hyderabad and Gurugram.

According to senior executives at Google, the protesting employees had discussions about pay parity, sexual harassment at workplace, and the #MeToo movement. Google confirmed that a walkout happened at offices in India.

“Yesterday (on Wednesday), we let Googlers know that we are aware of the activities planned for Thursday and that employees will have the support they need if they wish to participate. Employees have raised constructive ideas for how we can improve our policies and our processes. We are taking in all their feedback so we can turn these ideas into action,” Sundar Pichai, CEO Google said in a statement.

Some of the demands include commitment to end pay and opportunity inequality, publicly disclosed sexual harassment transparency report as well as a clear, uniform, globally inclusive process for reporting sexual misconduct safely and anonymously. |Business Standard  

Google makes it easier to review, delete search data: Here is how to use it

The feature is currently available for desktop and web platforms; it will be available in the Google app for iOS and Android in coming weeks, and in Google Maps from next year

Technology | Search engine and technology giant Google has now made it easier for users to review and delete their search history. The company has rolled out an update for its Google Search platform that enables a new ‘Your data in Search’ option where a user can review and delete recent Search activity, get quick access to the most relevant privacy controls in Google Account, and learn more about how Search works with data. The update is currently available for desktop and web platforms; it will be available in the Google app for iOS and Android in the coming weeks, and in Google Maps from next year.

| Google | 

Google collects several data when you make a search using Google Search platform. This data includes the terms you search for, links you interact with and other information like your current location when you search. Until now, the information related to search history was available under Google Account. To review and delete search history and other data, users had to visit their Google account, but now it has been integrated within the search itself, making it easier to review and delete search history data.

Google is also providing quick access to the privacy controls in Google Account that are most relevant. For example, to control the ads you see when you search, the company now gives access to manage Ad settings. Additionally, you can also access your Activity Controls to decide what information Google saves to your account and uses to optimise its products.

 <<<Business Standard OR  BS >>>

“We’re always working on making it easier for you to understand and control your data so you can make privacy choices that are right for you. Earlier this year, we launched a new Google Account experience that puts your privacy and security front and centre, and we updated our Privacy Policy with videos and clearer language to better describe the information we collect, why we collect it, and how you can control it. Today, we’re making it easier for you to make decisions about your data directly within the Google products you use every day, starting with Search,” said Google in a statement.

Google Pixel 3, Pixel 3 XL launch on Oct 9: Know expected specs, features

Although, there has been no confirmation around the specifications and features, let’s take a look at the leaked specifications and features of the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL

Technology : Search engine and technology giant Google is gearing up to launch the third generation Pixel smartphones on October 9. Touted as the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, the upcoming smartphones are expected to be designed similar to their respective predecessors — Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. However, as a part of upgrade, the upcoming phones would get new format screens, an improved operating system, enhanced camera modules and support for wireless charging.

Although there has been no confirmation around the specifications and features, let’s take a look at the leaked specifications and features of the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL.

————>>>>> Business Standard OR  BS <<<<<————

Design and Display

The Pixel 3 and Google Pixel 3 XL are reported to continue with the design of the Pixel 2-series. However, due to new format screens, both the devices would have a new outlook. The Pixel 3 is reported to get an 18:9 aspect ratio screen, possibly of a 5.5-inch. The Pixel 3 XL, on the other hand, is reported to get a notch-based screen, possibly of 6.7-inch. The notch in the Pixel 3 XL is also reported to be bigger than any other smartphones with the same screen format. The bigger notch could be due to a dual camera module on the front, details of which are still unknown. On the back, the phone is reported to get a glass body with a matte paint job on the lower side, as seen in the Pixel 2-series smartphones. The glass body would enable wireless charging capabilities in the phones, making them first Google-branded smartphones to support this feature.

Imaging

This is one area where Google has shown how important algorithms are and what could be achieved by optimising them. Even with a singular primary camera in the Pixel 2-series, the phones managed to outclass some of the best dual camera phones. Google is expected to bring similar experience to the Google Pixel 3-series, along with several new modifications in camera user interface and pre-loaded features such as Google Lens.

Google may steal Amazon, Flipkart's Diwali bonus; set for e-commerce debut

The company is also going to offer consumers instant loans on its platforms and has partnered four banks

Companies news : It’s official. Google will make its debut in India’s e-commerce and retail ecosystem this Diwali via its payments platform, Tez, rechristened Google Pay.

From tying up with more than 2,000 e-commerce companies, including big names such as cab aggregator Uber and movie ticketing platform BookMyShow, to adding about 1.2 million offline merchants, including the likes of Big Bazaar, Google is on a hyperdrive to create an ecosystem where everything will hinge on the payments app. The company is also going to offer consumers instant loans on its platforms and has partnered four banks — HDFC, ICICI, Kotak Mahindra and Federal Bank.

According to Google, a pre-approved loan limit for individuals, based on their bank account and Tez transaction history, will be set. The app’s users will get the money deposited directly into their bank accounts.

Google Pay

The technology giant rebranded its made-in-India Tez app, launched in September last year, as Google Pay, with an eye on expanding the platform to other markets. “We have learned that when we build for India, we build for the world,” Caesar Sengupta, general manager of payments and vice-president of Google’s Next Billion Users initiative, said at the ‘Google for India’ event in New Delhi on Tuesday. 

While the company has kept its e-commerce plans under wraps, this is being touted as the first move to enter the segment. “The company has 1.2 million merchants. It is partnering online cab aggregators, travel companies and ticketing firms, as well as expanding its tie-ups with brick-and-mortar retailers. It is all pointing towards creating an ecosystem which Amazon or even Flipkart has. The next step will be getting into the online marketplace,” said a source close to the company.

>>>KEEP READING : BS<<<