Google Pay launches gold buying, partners MMTC-PAMP India

Tech giant Google Thursday said it has partnered with bullion refiner MMTC-PAMP India to allow Google Pay users to buy and sell gold through the app, a service that is already offered by the likes of Paytm, Mobikwik and PhonePe. Through this partnership with India's only LBMA accredited gold refinery, Google Pay users will be able to buy 99.99 per cent 24-karat gold, Google said in a statement.

"Gold is core to Indian culture and tradition, making India the world's second largest consumer of gold. Indians buy gold to mark auspicious occasions each year be it Akshaya Tritiya, Dhanteras or Diwali," Google Pay India Director Product Management Ambarish Kenghe said.

Google Pay users can purchase gold for any value and that will be stored on behalf of the user, by MMTC-PAMP, in secure vaults. The users can buy and sell this gold any time at the latest price, refreshed every few minutes, as displayed on Google Pay app.

The announcement comes a day after the Delhi High Court asked the Reserve Bank as to how was Google Pay was facilitating financial transactions without its authorisation. The court issued notice to RBI and Google India seeking their stand on the issue.

Google Pay complies with all applicable legal requirements, a Google spokesperson had said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Google Pay operates as a technology service provider to its partner banks, to allow for payments through the UPI (Unified Payments Interface) infrastructure, and is not part of payment processing or settlement. There is no requirement for licensing of these services under the prevailing statutory and regulatory provisions," the spokesperson had said.

The spokesperson had stated that the company is mindful to prioritise data security and that it is committed to complying with the laws.

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"In order to support our partner banks, our efforts in complying with the government's data localisation norms are underway, and given the scale and complexity, we are being mindful to prioritise data security and uninterrupted services to our users as we make this transition. The central bank is apprised of the progress and we remain committed to complying with the laws of the land," the spokesperson had said.