GOOGLE SETS OUT TO OFFER CREDIT TO INDIAN-BASED MERCHANTS
Credit initiative emerges as Google sets out plans through which millions of Indian based merchants could be reached via its ‘Google Pay app’ starting later this year. This comes as the Android giant remains poised to assist small business owners in India that are faced with challenges as a result of the pandemic in addition to finding a business model for its mobile payments service.
This development is also viewed as part of Google’s effort to share its broader initiatives for small and micro-businesses in India. In view of this, the company also made it clear that it’s already working with financial institutions that will provide loans to these merchants from its Google Pay for Business app. The Android giant actually launched the Google Pay business app late last year, amazingly, it claimed it has amassed three million merchants.
According to the Indian government estimate, the country currently has about 60 million small and micro-sized businesses within the country. Which is also part of Google’s effort to help small scale stores, equally known as mom and pop stores, in addition to other small merchants build their online presence, the Android giant in the second half of 2017 launched ‘Google My Business app‘ and has been used by more than 26 million businesses in the country to list their presence on Google search and maps.
Meanwhile, as Google sets out offer in a different dimension unlike its usual app launch, it’s understood the current spread of coronavirus in the country is also a huge concern. New Delhi had in late March ordered a nationwide lockdown with the intent to contain the spread of COVID-19, which eventually saw the suspension of most business operations. However, in a bid to ease-up the economy and restrictions, the Indian government recently rushed to relax some of its restrictions which paved way for many stores to resume business activities.
Responding to this development, the company executives made it clear that, “every month we drive over 150 million direct connections between these businesses and customers including calls, online reservations, and direction requests”.
The Google Pay app since launch has been expanded in a different dimension. In 2019 Google launched Spot feature in India designed to enable businesses to easily create their own branded commercial fronts that will practically be accessible by customers via Google Pay app. While in May 2020, the company introduced ‘Nearby Stores’ as a Spot feature on Google Pay app that is structured to allow local businesses exclusively in a select part of India get discovered by customers within their location, which it also claims it is expanding the service across the country (has actually taken effect).
In another dimension, Google is Facebook’s rival considering Asia’s second-largest market. Facebook has been able to secure more than 1 million merchants in India via its WhatsApp business app, regarded as the most popular app in the country. While the latest move from Google is viewed as the grip the company assumes on small businesses within India.
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