Google Pay launches RuPay-based UPI credit card, supervised 'Pocket Money' for kids in India

Alphabet’s Google on Wednesday announced a clutch of new features for its Google Pay app in India, including a UPI-linked digital credit card, supervised payments for children and new advertising and ratings tools for small businesses.

Google Pay introduced “Flex”, a co-branded, UPI-powered digital credit card built on the RuPay network, starting with a partnership with Axis Bank.

The product aims to make short-term credit more accessible by allowing users to apply for and receive a card within minutes through the Google Pay app, manage repayments, and earn and redeem rewards on transactions.

India has seen explosive growth in digital payments through the government-backed Unified Payments Interface (UPI), but the use of transactional credit remains relatively limited compared with cashless payments.

“We see an opportunity to simplify and reimagine everyday credit for the next generation of users,” Sharath Bulusu, senior director of product management at Google Pay, said in a statement, adding that the company plans to expand Flex to more banking partners.

Pocket Money

The company also announced “Pocket Money”, a feature that allows parents to give children controlled access to digital payments.

Parents can either set a monthly spending limit of up to ₹15,000 or approve each transaction individually, while retaining real-time visibility and the ability to pause access instantly.

Google Pay said it would allow customers to rate businesses directly after a transaction, with those ratings syncing automatically to Google Maps listings to boost visibility and credibility.

Google also launched a generative AI-powered advertising tool within the Google Pay for Business app that would enable merchants to quickly create and run ads without requiring marketing expertise.

The company also highlighted a renewed focus on safety, saying its systems prevented fraud worth about ₹13,000 crore last year. Since October 2024, it has displayed more than 4.1 crore warnings for transactions suspected to be potential scams.

Recent safety updates include alerts that warn Android users if they attempt to open Google Pay while screen-sharing with an unknown caller, a common tactic used in fraud, as well as an AI-powered chatbot to help detect and respond to scam reports. The company said these measures have improved scam detection rates by 21%.

India is a key market for Google Pay, which competes with Walmart-backed PhonePe and Paytm in the country’s fast-growing digital payments ecosystem.