Google's payment app for India 'Tez' becomes Google Pay
New Delhi, Aug 28 : Readying its digital payment service for India, Tez, for a global roll out, Google on Tuesday renamed the app as Google Pay and introduced new features that could soon help its Indian users get instant "pre-approved" loans from some banks.
"Building for India has often meant Google building for everyone all around the world," Caesar Sengupta, Vice-President, Next Billion Users initiative and Payments, Google, said at its annual Google for India event here.
"At the moment, nothing is changing about the experience in India other than the name," he said, adding that Google is working with a few of India's top banks -- HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Federal Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank -- to offer pre-approved, instant loans to their customers, right from within Google Pay.
This feature will roll out to eligible users within the next few weeks, Google said. With the roll out of this feature, eligible users will see a notification telling that that they are pre-approved.
Next, the users would have to decide how much they want to borrow, and how quickly they would like to repay.
Finally, after reviewing the terms of the loan, the bank will deposit the money in their bank account instantly -- without the need of any additional paperwork, Google said.
"In coming weeks and months, Google is making Pay even more useful through expanding the places users can pay in-store and online, expanding services for merchants, and working with the banks to provide instant loans to Google Pay users," Sengupta said.
Google launched the Tez app in India last year and since then over 55 million people have downloaded the app and more than 22 million people and businesses actively use the app for digital transactions every month.
Google Pay works with all major banks in India on BHIM UPI (Unified Payments Interface).
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SIT formed to probe second sexual assault case against expelled Cong MLA Mamkootathil
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted to probe a second case of sexual assault against expelled Congress MLA Rahul Mamkootathil, police officials said on Friday.
The SIT will be led by G Poonguzhali, Assistant Inspector General at the Police Headquarters.
The team also includes a DSP rank officer and sub-inspectors, officials added.
The second sexual assault complaint was received by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee, which it forwarded to the state police chief.
ALSO READ: Cong expels rape-accused MLA Mamkootathil from party's primary membership
Following this, the Crime Branch registered a case and launched an investigation.
Crime Branch officials said the email complaint contained only the sender's email ID and no other contact details.
As part of the probe, they have sent a reply email requesting that the complainant contact them and provide her statement.
The complainant has alleged that she was sexually assaulted under the false promise of marriage, a Crime Branch official said.
However, details such as the location and date of the alleged incident are not currently available to the police.
The SIT will attempt to trace the sender of the email and record her statement, which is crucial for further investigation, the officer said.
Mamkootathil was expelled from the Congress party on Thursday after a court here rejected his anticipatory bail petition in another rape case.
Police said he is currently absconding, and a manhunt is underway in Kerala and neighbouring states.
