Google Pay launches second cobranded credit card, partners with SBI Card

Company also integrates Google Gemini into the app to help users analyse spending, track savings and understand financial concepts such as credit scores

Google Pay has partnered with SBI Card to launch a cobranded credit card, its second such tie-up in under a year as it builds out a portfolio of credit offerings in the country. 

 

The company also launched a conversational feature integrated with Google Gemini artificial intelligence (AI) model within the application to enable users to analyse their spending patterns, get information around savings, and learn about financial concepts like credit scores, among other things. 

 

The contactless Google Pay Flex SBI Card is set to be available on RuPay and Visa card networks, the company said in a statement. In December last year, it had rolled out its first cobranded credit card with Axis Bank on the RuPay card network. 

 

“People are moving more of their primary spends onto the card even as the spending rate every month remains the same. That tells us that we’re getting a good share of the wallet of a Flex user,” Sharath Bulusu, senior director, Google Pay, told Business Standard. 

 

While he did not disclose the total number of card issuances for its first cobranded credit card offering, Bulusu explained that a healthy business model was important for the long term growth of the sector. 

 

Google Pay is the second largest Unified Payments Interface (UPI) by volume. 

 

UPI payments continue to remain free of any merchant discount rate (MDR). RuPay credit cards on UPI attract no interchange for small merchants on transactions up to ₹2,000. 

 

Bulusu explained that users would continue to have a choice to choose between its card issuing partners. However, based on some filters such as geographical location of a user, age, among others, the app would nudge a user towards what they would be eligible for. 

 

“Sometimes one issuer is better for you than the other. If you're from one of those places, it is better for us to merge you in that direction and tell you which could be the right card,” he added. 

 

The rollout of the second Flex co-branded card comes at a time when multiple UPI apps have launched their versions of credit cards.

 

PhonePe launched co-branded credit cards with SBI Card and HDFC Bank this year. Cred rolled out an IndusInd co-branded credit card whereas fintech super.money has co-branded credit card partnerships with Axis Bank, Utkarsh Small Finance Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank. Credit-on-UPI fintech Kiwi has a co-branded partnership with AU Small Finance Bank, Yes Bank and Punjab National Bank.