Google Pay Announces Pan-India Roll Out Of SoundPods Amid Rumblings At Paytm

Amid rumblings at Paytm, Google Pay is rolling out its SoundPod device across India in the coming months.

SoundPods is an audio device that helps merchants track QR code payments via audio notifications. It competes directly with Paytm’s Soundbox offering.

“We’re pleased to announce SoundPods will be available for small merchants across India over the coming months, bringing considerable ease and convenience to millions of SMBs (small and medium businesses),” said the company in a blog. 

The fintech player said that it has been running a limited pilot for the product so far and has received “positive feedback” from the participating merchants about SoundPods.

“Last year, we introduced our SoundPod product in a limited pilot – an audio device that helps merchants track QR code payments with audio alerts when a payment is received. Participating merchants have shared positive feedback, noting it reduces checkout time,” added the blog.

The big tech major also said that the product will be available for merchants via a daily or a yearly plan. While the former will be available at INR 5 per day for 25 days a month and a one-time fee of INR 499, the annual membership can be availed for INR 1,499 that will be deducted from the merchant’s settlement account.

With this, Google Pay has become the latest company to launch such a device, joining the likes of names such as Paytm, PhonePe and BharatPe. 

Interestingly, Paytm was the first Indian startup to develop such a device and that too at the top of Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. These audio notification devices offer a recurring source of revenue for fintech startups via subscription fees chargeable from merchants.

Besides, the payments data from individual merchants also helps fintechs decide their creditworthiness and accordingly disburse loans to end-mechants. In addition, the parallel source of revenue is especially important for digital payments platforms as they are not allowed to charge commissions from end users on UPI transactions. 

The roll out comes at a time when Google Pay’s competitor Paytm Payments Bank has been embroiled in regulatory troubles. The RBI has barred the payments bank from undertaking any deposits or credit transactions, or top-ups in any of its customer accounts till March 15. 

The central bank has also stopped the company from providing any banking services including UPI facility and fund transfers post March 15.

At the heart of all this is the country’s burgeoning fintech ecosystem, especially the digital payments space. A case in point has been the UPI which clocked XX transactions worth INR Lakh Cr in January 2024. WIth this too, PhonePe and Google Pay together account for more than 80% of total UPI transactions in India. 

Meanwhile, the announcement also comes days after a Parliamentary panel flagged the dominance of foreign-owned PhonePe and Google Pay in the digital payments space.