Google Pay will roll out SoundPod with audio alerts to merchants in India after a year-long pilot

Google is rolling out. Sound Pod – the company’s wireless speaker that can verify payments received over the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) instant payment system – to small merchants in India, the company announced on Thursday. The company started testing the device as part of a limited trial last year and has revealed that the rollout will take place later this year. Google Pay rivals PhonePe and Paytm – later Faced with RBI’s strictness. on non-compliance with several rules – already offering similar products to traders in the country.

In a ___ Blog post on Thursday, Google Google Pay’s VP of Products Ambarish Kenghe announced that the company’s SoundPod will be rolled out to small merchants in the country “in the coming months.” During Google’s year-long trial of the SoundPod in India, the firm received positive feedback from merchants who participated in the trial, including faster checkout, Kenge said.

The SoundPod is equipped with an LCD screen and a single speaker. According to Google it supports 4G connectivity. It has three LED indicators to show the device’s battery, charging, and connectivity status, and features menu, volume, and power buttons.

The SoundPod has an LCD display and speakers that face the merchant.
Photo credit: Google

Paytm The ‘soundbox’ speakers offer between four and 12 days of battery life and feature 2G or 4G connectivity – two models are equipped with LCD screens, while another supports music playback over a Bluetooth connection. on the other hand, Phone P The SmartSpeaker offers up to four days of battery life on a single charge and supports multiple languages.

While the company hasn’t offered a concrete timeline for SoundPod’s arrival in India, competitors like Paytm and PhonePe offer similar audio devices that are already being used by merchants across the country. Traders also pay a monthly subscription – between Rs. 50 to Rs.125 — to access these audio-based announcement services.

Google says merchants will be able to choose between two subscriptions for SoundPod — a Rs. 499 one-time fee followed by Rs. 125 monthly subscription plan, or an annual subscription priced at Rs. 1,499. Merchants will not need to pay a one-time fee while opting for the annual plan. Customers who get 400 payments in a month through QR codes will get guaranteed Rs. 125 cashback, according to the company.

---