I used the new Google Pay for over two years – here’s why it’s amazing

Source: Joe Maring / Android Central

Google has revamped Google Pay in the US with a whole new design and additions of cool features like cash rewards and the ability to send and receive money from friends and family with ease. Oh, and since Google loves creating messaging services so much, they’ve integrated one right into Google Pay so you can text your contacts from the payment platform.

Although these features are coming to the United States for the first time, Indian customers have had access to these features for a few years now. The redesigned Google Pay is based on a payment platform that Google introduced in India over three years ago called Tez. Tez stands for fast in Hindi, and the service was designed from the ground up for Indian users and operates on the centralized platform of the country’s unified payment interface.

Google laid the groundwork for today’s Google Pay over three years ago.

Tez started off as a service to transfer money to your contacts, and Google added rewards and offers to the platform shortly after launch. He then acquired the ability to pay and manage telephone service, electricity, heating, broadband and other bills. And six months after launch, Google added a chat feature to Tez.

Tez immediately gained momentum in India, racking up 750 million transactions in the first 12 months. Google then integrated Tez with Google Pay in August 2018 to streamline its payment platform and in doing so created Google Pay which is now making its debut in the United States.

Now that you have a better understanding of the Google Pay journey, let’s talk about what makes it a great platform. I regularly use the service to transfer money to my friends and family. Back in the days when hanging out with friends was still a thing, Google Pay was the go-to option for spreading bills.

Google Pay is also a great way to manage all of your bills in one place. I rely on Google Pay every month to pay my phone, broadband, and credit card bills, and the fact that I don’t have to go to individual apps to do so has done the deal for me. Google also has a feature for local businesses that is particularly handy for finding stores nearby, and in the United States, you may be able to find the nearest gas station based on your location.

But the defining feature of Google Pay is the rewards and offers. Not only did I end up saving a decent amount through money back offers using Google Pay, but I also got free subscriptions to Audible, YouTube Premium, and other services.

Google encouraged Google Pay with attractive offers in India – it is now doing so in the United States

Google has been a big push for Google Pay in India, which has given the service a significant boost in the country. Google also holds timed events to attract new users and is currently running a Go India mini-game as part of the service that rewards users with cash prizes for their transactions on the platform.

The result of these efforts? Google Pay is now the dominant payment platform in India, boasting 75 million users transacting monthly and clearing over 500 million transactions per month.

Google uses a similar strategy in the United States where it offers attractive cashback offers and rewards, which should help it move up the country. As far as this chat feature goes, I used it more than I expected. It turns out that all Google needed to make Allo work was to put a payment platform there.

After two years of use, Google Pay has become one of my favorite Google services. It does everything I want in a payment platform; it offers a centralized location to pay bills, i can easily send money to friends and family, pay online and in retail stores, and the rewards are a nice bonus. I set up my Google Pay account in the US earlier this week and the feature set is identical to the Indian version of the service.

It’s exciting to see these features coming to the United States, and if you’d like to see what the new Google Pay has to offer, click the link below to install the app.