Mumbai: Google Pay is betting that artificial intelligence can transform it from a payments app into a platform that helps users understand their finances, as it integrates Google’s Gemini AI model into the app.
The company believes users are more likely to ask financial questions on Google Pay than on a general-purpose AI chatbot because they already use the app for payments, bills and other transactions, according to Sharath Bulusu, senior director at Google Pay and Wallet.
By integrating Gemini into the platform, Google offers users “a controlled environment that is regulated, ensuring data security and safety” for their data, financial history, context and settings, Bulusu said.
“We could take this context to places like Gemini, or we could bring these models to the place where the context is ready. We are choosing the second one because people are very sensitive about their finances,” Bulusu said.
The ‘Ask Google Pay’ feature, which was rolled out on Wednesday, is available in 13 languages—both voice and text—and can answer queries through text, images and charts.
Queries could range from how much users can save, how they can plan for retirement or save tax, to more targeted questions around certain asset classes and investment products, loan options, or even specific clauses in insurance policies.
Bulusu insists that the idea is not to offer financial advice but to help customers understand some of these topics independently, de-jargonize financial services, and empower them to make better financial decisions.
Google’s move comes as technology companies race to embed generative AI into consumer applications, with banks and fintechs increasingly using AI assistants to improve customer engagement and cross-sell financial products.
Building the credit ecosystem
Separately, Google Pay said it will continue expanding its credit-card and lending partnerships, while taking a cautious approach to customer data.
The company currently partners six lenders for personal loans and recently added SBI Card as the second issuer for the Flex credit card, its co-branded credit card with Axis Bank launched in December 2025.
“Now, we’re ready with the second issuer, SBI Card, which is a pure play issuer. The idea is that we bring Google’s expertise in technology and customer experience to the table, and SBI Card brings their coverage, history of working in the credit space, and their ability to cover a large number of users.”
Bulusu said that the company will continue to launch new card variants and tie up with more issuers as well as get into other lines of credit for a “multi-directional expansion” to cater to different demographics and varied market segments.
On the personal loan front, Bulusu said the offering has been seeing good traction but that the focus for the company is now to explore how to scale it in a “privacy-safe manner”.
“We are very focused and committed to the idea that getting you access to credit should not come at the expense of your data. That’s a tough problem to crack.” The company has been working with several banks to create privacy-safe models for credit.
Google Pay processed 7.4 billion UPI transactions worth ₹9.7 trillion in June, giving it a 32.8% share of transaction volumes and 33.5% in value, second only to PhonePe, whose share was 46.4% in volume and 49.2% in value.