Thanks to a newly formed partnership with fintech startup Setu, Google will now let users open fixed deposits (FDs) through Google Pay.
To start, Google Pay will offer users FDs of Equitas Small Finance Bank for up to one year. As per a Mint report, Ujjivan Small Finance Bank and AU Small Finance Bank are also expected to join the list soon. The report adds that the maximum interest rate is currently set at 6.35%, and users will have to sign up after an Aadhaar-based KYC (know your customer) process, enabled through a one-time password (OTP).
Setu — an API infrastructure startup that offers APIs to clients across bill payments, savings, credit, and payments — has already created a testing version on the platform that provides various options to FDs. These include periods ranging from 7-29 days, 30-45 days, 46-90 days, 91-180 days, 181-364 days, and 365 days, with interest rates ranging from 3.5% for the shortest FD to 6.35% for the annual FD.
Google India is yet to confirm the development, which means that we don’t have an official launch date for the new functionality on Google Pay. The product also comes when several top-level executives at Google Pay have resigned from their posts due to a slowed growth rate. With 150 million active users in the country, this could be an initiative that gets more users onboard