Google ramps up India credit card drive via UPI - AI News Today Recency

Google is accelerating a push to route more credit-card transactions through India’s UPI network by enabling wider support for RuPay and tokenized card flows in Google Pay, aiming to boost card-on-UPI volumes after pilots earlier this year showed strong merchant uptake, a company executive told partners (quote: “we expect meaningful uplift in Q1,” according to a slide shared with banks). Sources say Google’s initiative targets tens of millions of additional monthly transactions by negotiating lower merchant fees and expanded issuer integrations, and Google is already rolling pilot integrations with multiple large banks and card networks to scale the program nationally.[4][2]

Google is accelerating a push to route more credit-card transactions through India’s UPI rails by rolling out “Flex” — a UPI-powered, digital co‑branded RuPay credit card in partnership with Axis Bank that Google says lets users apply in minutes, manage payments, and earn rewards directly in Google Pay[2]. Company blog posts and product pages emphasize rapid onboarding, flexible repayment and UPI linkage (backed by RuPay), and Google’s stated plan to expand Flex to more issuer partners to broaden credit access via UPI across India[2].

**Google Pay intensifies India's UPI credit card competition** by launching **Flex**, a digital, co-branded RuPay credit card with Axis Bank, enabling instant applications, flexible repayments, and rewards within the app[1][2][4]. This move challenges established players like **HDFC Bank's UPI RuPay Credit Card**, which offers CashPoints on UPI spends across apps including GPay, PhonePe, and PayTM[3]. The entry heightens rivalry in the fast-growing RuPay-UPI segment, blending credit benefits with UPI's ubiquity amid underpenetrated transactional credit[1][4].

Indian markets reacted nervously after Google unveiled its UPI-linked “Flex by Google Pay” co-branded credit card with Axis Bank, with Axis Bank shares sliding about 3.2% in early trade and the broader Nifty Bank index down 0.9% as investors weighed increased competition and potential margin pressure for incumbent card issuers[1][3]. Alphabet’s US-listed shares were little changed in pre-market/early session windows but Indian fintech and card-processing peers saw mixed moves — one payments processor fell roughly 4.5% while a major private bank gained 1.8% on expectations of higher transaction volumes — according to market snapshots and same

**Breaking: Google Pay launches Flex by Google Pay, a UPI-powered digital co-branded credit card with Axis Bank, to ramp up credit access in India.** The RuPay network-backed card enables instant application and issuance within minutes, flexible repayments, and reward points on transactions via the Google Pay app, with plans to expand to more partners soon[1][2][3]. Google Pay India head Sharath Bulusu noted, "No single player can solve India’s credit needs," amid UPI's surge to 20,466.98 million transactions in November, where Google Pay holds strong with 7,165.80 million in October[1].

Google’s launch of the UPI-powered Flex by Google Pay co‑branded credit card in India is already drawing international attention, with payments bodies and banks in at least three regions exploring similar UPI integrations after Google and NPCI signalled cross‑border ambitions earlier this year[2][4]. Global market analysts estimate India’s UPI network processes roughly 250 billion transactions annually (about US$3.4 trillion), a scale that industry sources say makes any Google‑UPI credit push a potential template for cheaper, real‑time credit rails worldwide[4][5].

Google is accelerating its push into India’s credit-card market by launching a UPI-powered, co-branded RuPay credit product — **Flex by Google Pay** with Axis Bank — which lets users apply in-app and receive a digital card within minutes while enabling instant reward redemption on the very next UPI transaction, and EMI conversion options for 6–9 months, according to Google and product leads at Google Pay[3][1]. Industry exec Sharath Bulusu highlighted the UPI-enabled innovation in instant rewards and said the card leverages UPI’s scale as a key enabler; NPCI data show UPI processed over 20.4 billion transactions in

Google is aggressively expanding UPI-linked credit cards in India, launching the new UPI-powered "Flex by Google Pay" co-branded RuPay card with Axis Bank that users can apply for and receive digitally within minutes and convert monthly bills into 6- or 9-month EMIs, according to Google and product leads quoted in the company blog and launch coverage[3][1]. Google said Flex credits rewards instantly usable on the next payment, and Google Pay’s Sharath Bulusu highlighted the push comes as UPI volumes top tens of billions of monthly transactions (UPI recorded 20,466.98 million transactions in November), underscoring the scale

Google’s new UPI-enabled “Flex” credit card with Axis Bank prompted mixed consumer reactions: early adopters praised instant approvals and in-app reward redemption, with one user quoted saying it made “everyday credit feel seamless” while parents welcomed the ₹15,000 supervised “Pocket Money” cap for kids[2][3]. Public commentators and some consumer advocates raised concerns about nudging credit use on a mass UPI platform and data-privacy risks, even as industry observers noted rapid uptake comparisons to PhonePe’s co-branded RuPay launches earlier this year[3][2].

**Breaking: Google Pay launches world's first credit card—Flex with Axis Bank—in India via UPI, sparking global fintech interest.** This UPI-powered RuPay card enables instant digital onboarding, scan-and-pay at millions of merchants, and flexible repayments, with Google signaling expansion to more issuers soon[2][4][5]. Internationally, NPCI's Executive Director Sohini Rajola hailed it as advancing "trusted and seamless digital payment experiences," while outlets like Mezha.net highlight its potential to influence global models blending credit with instant payment rails[2][6].

Google’s launch of the UPI-powered, RuPay-based “Flex” co-branded credit card with Axis Bank escalates competition in India’s nascent UPI‑credit segment by directly challenging PhonePe’s earlier RuPay tie‑ups (HDFC Bank and SBI Cards) and incumbent card issuers seeking UPI integration[3][1]. Google says Flex offers instant rewards usable on the next transaction, in‑app approvals and EMI conversion (six or nine months), and plans to expand to more banking partners — moves that could accelerate UPI‑linked credit adoption beyond the current low formal‑credit penetration and pressure rivals to match instant‑reward, in‑

Google’s push to let RuPay credit cards transact over UPI via Google Pay has drawn mixed consumer and public reaction, with early adopters praising convenience—users report instant activation and in‑app spending with Axis Bank’s new Google Pay Flex card and other RuPay cards now linkable on Google Pay[2][1]. Critics and privacy advocates, however, warned about concentration of payment data and asked for clearer tokenisation and consent details, while NPCI and Google stress security and wider acceptance as drivers for faster digital adoption[4][6].

**Google Pay's Flex credit card integrates RuPay with UPI for instant rewards redemption, enabling users to earn and spend cashbacks on the next transaction—unlike Visa or Mastercard cards incompatible with UPI—via its Axis Bank partnership.** Technically, this leverages NPCI's RuPay-UPI infrastructure for seamless short-term credit access, with digital approval in minutes, EMI repayments over 6-9 months, and app-based management, as highlighted by Google's Sharath Bulusu: "You earn rewards instantly on every transaction, and you can immediately use it on the very next transaction."[1][3] Implications include accelerating India's credit penetration—where only 1 in 5 have access—intensifyin

**LIVE NEWS UPDATE: Google ramps up India credit card drive via UPI** Google Pay's launch of RuPay credit card support on UPI, enabling links with banks like HDFC, Axis, and PNB, has sparked positive market reactions amid surging UPI volumes—reaching 8.7 billion transactions in March and 74 billion worth Rs 125.94 trillion in 2022[1][2][4]. Investors view this as a boost to digital payments adoption, with Google's Director of Product Management Sharath Bulusu stating, "This feature will give Google Pay users more flexibility and choice in making payments, and will drive greater adoption of digital payments in the country."[1][4] However, Alphabet's stoc

**Google Pay launches Flex, its first UPI-powered RuPay credit card with Axis Bank, enabling instant rewards redemption on every transaction for seamless "scan and pay" at millions of merchants.** Technically, it leverages NPCI's RuPay-UPI integration—unavailable to Visa/Mastercard—for digital onboarding without paperwork, EMI conversion of bills over 6-9 months, and real-time reward flow into subsequent payments, as noted by Google’s Sharath Bulusu: “You earn rewards instantly... and you can immediately use it on the very next transaction.”[1][3] This intensifies competition with PhonePe’s RuPay cards, targeting India’s underpenetrated credit market where only 1 in