[Update: Explained] Google Pay (Tez) gets new multi-colored logo in India

Abner Li | Nov 8 2020 - 4:42 pm PT

Back in September, Google Pay (Tez) received a Flutter rewrite that will serve as the service’s global foundation and expansion moving forward. Google is now introducing a new logo for the Pay app in India.

Update 11/8: Google’s Caesar Sengupta confirmed the new logo, noting that “Icons like products need to evolve.” This evolution comes as the app has grown to be “a lot more full featured” since it launched in 2017.

For many in India today, GPay is effectively a replacement for the physical wallet and everything in it – cash, bills, cards, tickets etc. The new icon is meant to reflect this and how we see the world of digital payments evolve in partnership with the Indian ecosystem.

Per the explanation, those multi-colored arcs can vaguely be interpreted as wallets.

Original 11/4: Pay branding has long been a Google “G” next to the word “Pay.” The background is different for the Tez version, but otherwise very similar. Users today in India — and possibly other countries in that region — received an updated version of the “GPay” app that features a new logo.

It looks to consist of three-dimensional, lowercase letters — “u” and “n” — interlocking. At first glance, the design does not really convey that this is an app used for payments, especially compared to the previous icon. It does conform to Google’s general, minimalist icon aesthetic, but the shapes are usually quite representative of functionality.

Google Pay in the US next year will add support for digital bank accounts and other smart budgeting features, while a shopping-focused revamp is rumored.

Meanwhile, the Tez version of Google Pay catered to developing countries allows users to make bill payments, top-up phone data plans, get local bank loans, buy train tickets, and send money with rudimentary messaging functionality. Some of those capabilities are expected to come to the rest of the world, and today’s updated branding could be part of that push.

Version 116.1.9 of Google Pay (Tez) with this new logo is rolling out now.