Google Pay!: How does it make profits?

After demonetisation, the demand for digital wallets skyrocketed.This, along with support from the Government of India, saw the rise of PayTM, PhonePe, Google Pay (Previously known as Tez), the latest being Google Pay. But guess what, though it was introduced way later, it’s the most used digital wallet in India. 

Image Courtesy: Unsplash 

With the introduction of UPI (Unified Payments Interface), using Google Pay’s really a very simple, yet risky task. All one’s got to do is download the app on their smartphone, link their bank account (UPI, which most banks support) and they’re good to go! All of this, free of cost! 

Also, to not lose customers, they provide gifts (scratch cards and what not).

This may make you wonder: If they’re providing all this for free, how’d they make profits? Here’s the answer.

Google Pay’s Revenue Model: 

1. First up, Recharge: Google Pay allows you to recharge your mobile SIM card . This, though doesn’t cost you, costs the service provider. Google receives commissions from the service providers. This is Google Pay’s primary revenue source. 

2. Bill payments: Not just mobile SIM recharges, Google Pay’s got other sectors covered too. You can pay your electricity, water,  DTH and other bills too via Google Pay. Again, this too being free, bring revenue to Google, through commissions.  

3. Data: Most importantly, it’s your transaction data that’s really precious for them. Though it doesn’t yield income instantly, on the long run, analysis of this data can do wonders for Google. But does that mean your transaction data is sold/leaked? Nope, it isn’t. You’ve not got to worry here. Google’s always had a great reputation when it comes to data management, and so is the case here.

4. Others: One more reason for the tremendous success of Google Pay is it’s frequency of giving away prizes. For almost every one or three transactions, you get scratch cards, containing coupons. These can be offers at specific stores (online), or just money, up to ₹1,500. This, not just keeps customers from leaving, but also generates income for Google. The companies that feature in those scratch cards coupons too pay commissions to Google. 

That was it for the blog. I’d always had this question and wondered if you too did. That’s what made me research quite a bit and write this blog. Hope it answered your questions. 

Also, if you know Google Pay’s any other source of income, lemme know in the comments. It doesn’t just help me, but other readers too 🙂

Thanks for reading till the end! 

#GooglePay #UPI