
5 hidden Google Pay features you probably didn't know about
Here are five hidden Google Pay tips and tricks worth trying:
You don't need a separate app to split bills
Google Pay has a built-in feature to split bills with friends and family. You can create a group, add people, and the app keeps track of who has paid and who hasn't—making it easier to track the money you spent on your last trip. I used it for a dinner outing recently, and it made life a lot easier.
Tap on New Payment & gt; New Group, add everyone involved and enter the amount to split.
Google Pay is available on both Android and iOS platforms (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/Indian Express)
Scratch the cards for rewards
Not every payment on Google Pay gives you a reward, but some transactions unlock unique scratch cards—especially when you make a utility payment such as a phone recharge or electricity bill. These scratch cards often offer cashback or product discount coupons from partner brands.
Check the Rewards section to find all of your scratch cards, including the special ones.
Autopay for your favourite subscriptions
Hate remembering payment dates for your favourite subscriptions? You can simply pay and subscribe via Google Pay, without the hassle of remembering renewal dates. It supports all the major apps like JioCinema, Netflix, Spotify, YouTube Premium, Google One Cloud, and more.
Click on your profile picture in the top right corner and select the Autopay option to manage all your subscriptions.
Check bank balance without logging into net banking
You can check your linked bank account balance directly from Google Pay without logging into your banking app or website. It's a small feature, but surprisingly useful when you just want to confirm funds before making a payment.
Tap on your bank account from the Payment Methods section, then select View Account Balance. Enter your UPI PIN, and you'll get the balance instantly.
Add a note to your transaction
You can add custom notes or labels to your payments to keep track of why you made a transaction—useful for budgeting, taxes, or business reimbursements. This helps you remember all your payments and their reasons. Just enter a custom text before sending the money, which could be as simple as an emoji.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Economic Times
an hour ago
- Economic Times
Tablet sales sail smooth on 5G wave; India market grows by 20% QoQ in April-June
Synopsis India's tablet market experienced a 20% growth in Q2 2025, fueled by 5G-enabled devices and vendor channel expansion. Apple dominated with a 30% market share, driven by strong iPad 11 series demand. Samsung, Lenovo, Xiaomi, and OnePlus followed, catering to diverse segments. CMR forecasts continued growth, while Canalys predicts a slight contraction for the year. ETTelecom New Delhi: India's tablet market grew 20% quarter-on-quarter in the April-June quarter of 2025, driven by greater availability of fifth-generation (5G)-enabled devices and channel expansion by top vendors, according to a report released by CyberMedia Research (CMR).The report said 5G tablets remained the key growth catalyst, accounting for 95% of shipments year-on-year, as Indians adopt next-generation connectivity. Apple led the tablet market with a 30% volume share as its shipments rose by 10% year-on-year in Q2 2025. The iPhone and iPad maker, however, had a 33% share in the corresponding quarter last performance was "supported by a 78% quarter-on-quarter and 10% year-on-year growth", CMR said, adding that its shipments were driven by a strong demand for the newly launched iPad 11 series, which accounted for 70% of Apple's total shipments during the quarter, alongside improved availability across both online and offline channels. Apple was followed by Samsung with a 27% share, Lenovo (16%), Xiaomi (15%) and OnePlus (6%), according to CMR. For Samsung, its broad portfolio enabled it to sustain performance across both affordable and enterprise segments, while Lenovo benefited from demand in the education segment, and Xiaomi had competitive value-for-money tablet offerings combined with strategic expansion across online and offline retail channels."India's tablet market is advancing along two complementary growth paths-value-for-money and premium," said Menka Kumari, senior analyst-industry intelligence group (IIG), CMR. "The strong double-digit growth in the value-for-money segment highlights robust demand from students, gig workers and value-conscious users seeking reliable performance, and new compelling Android value-for-money tablets from brands, such as Xiaomi and OnePlus."She added that the premium segment, led by Apple and Samsung, is seeing heightened traction from professionals and "ecosystem loyalists who prioritise seamless integration, security and superior experience".The research firm has forecasted a 10-15% growth for the tablet market in 2025. Canalys has separately forecasted that tablet shipments are expected to contract by 8%."As we move into the festive quarter-a traditionally strong period for consumer electronics-CMR's analysis points to a sustained momentum and consistent growth, driven by demand from both urban centres and the expanding base of Aspirational India," Kumari said.

The Hindu
4 hours ago
- The Hindu
CESC celebrates Independence Day by honouring top-performing employees, launching POS facility in Mysuru
The Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC) celebrated the 79th Independence Day in a meaningful way by honouring employees who have contributed to the corporation's progress, recognising officers and staff for their exemplary work, and launching a Point-of-Sale (POS) facility to benefit customers. At the Independence Day celebrations held at the corporation's head office in Vijayanagar 2nd Stage here on Friday, CESC Managing Director K.M. Munigopal Raju hoisted the national flag. On the occasion, junior engineers and powermen/linemen who meticulously maintained power lines in the five districts under CESC's jurisdiction, junior and assistant engineers who effectively implemented the Kusum-C scheme, and officers from the tax division and MT section who legally fought to prevent excess GST collection, were honoured with silver medals and certificates of appreciation. CESC Technical Director D.J. Divakar, Chief Financial Officer G. Renuka, General Manager of Administration and HR B.R. Roopa, Chief General Manager of Internal Audit Lingarajamma, CESC Vigilance Inspector Ramkumar, and Vijayalakshmi were present. CESC introduced a POS payment facility to simplify electricity bill collection. On the occasion of Independence Day, the CESC Managing Director launched the bill collection scheme through POS machines. The POS initiative will offer greater convenience to customers, enabling them to pay their electricity bills using debit cards, credit cards, UPI QR codes, or cash. Payments can be made at customers' doorsteps or at CESC cash counters. Launched with the cooperation of Canara Bank, the project has seen the bank provide 500 POS machines free of cost to CESC, along with training on their usage. 'This scheme will make bill collection easier, improve operational efficiency, and support the Digital India mission by providing customers with multiple payment options,' the CESC said. Canara Bank Chief Manager Chandan Kumar, Mysuru Zonal General Manager S. Rajashekhar, PaySwift Cluster Manager Srinivas Murthy, and CESC Communications Manager Naresh Babu were present.
&w=3840&q=100)

Business Standard
6 hours ago
- Business Standard
PM Narendra Modi pushes for tech self-reliance in Independence Day speech
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address on the 79th Independence Day, underscored the need for India to be self-reliant and innovative in its use of technology. He emphasised that building digital sovereignty is essential to reduce dependence on foreign companies for tech services. 'Every nation that mastered technology scaled the heights of development, reached the pinnacle, and attained new dimensions of economic power,' he said, urging the country to master critical technologies. PM Modi highlighted India's progress in the semiconductor space. 'The first Made in India chip, manufactured in Bharat by the people of Bharat, will be available in the market by the end of this year,' he said. 'Today we have freed ourselves from that burden and advanced the work on semiconductors in mission mode. Six different semiconductor units are taking shape on the ground, and we have already given the green signal to four new units,' Modi said during his 103-minute speech, the longest in his ongoing tenure as Prime Minister. Under the first phase of the Rs 76,000 crore India Semiconductor Mission, the government has so far approved 10 semiconductor chip fabrication and packaging units. In June 2023, the government approved a $2.75 billion project proposal by Micron to establish a semiconductor chip Assembly, Testing, Marking, and Packaging (ATMP) unit in Sanand, Gujarat. A few months later, the government approved India's first chip fabrication project, a joint venture between India's Tata Group and Taiwan's Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (PSMC), with an investment of $11 billion (approximately Rs 91,000 crore). Since then, the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), the nodal agency under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, has approved eight more ATMP, Outsourced Assembly and Testing (OSAT), and compound semiconductor fabrication units. Earlier this week, the Union Cabinet approved four additional compound semiconductor fabrication and ATMP units, two of which will be set up in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, and one each in Mohali, Punjab, and Andhra Pradesh. During his speech on Friday, Modi also exhorted the nation's youth to build indigenous platforms so that India's wealth did not 'go out' of the country. Citing the example of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platform, which is handling 50% of the real-time transactions happening in India today, the Prime Minister said that the ability to create something like UPI meant that the youth had power. 'Be it the creative world, social media, or any of these platforms, I challenge the youth of my country, come, why don't we have our own platforms? Why should we depend on others? Why should India's wealth go out? I have faith in your capability,' Modi said. The Prime Minister's call for tech self-reliance comes as nations worldwide ramp up investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity amid geopolitical and economic uncertainty. Jaspreet Bindra, co-founder of AI & Beyond, said that in today's rapidly shifting geopolitical landscape, relying solely on foreign platforms means outsourcing capability, sovereignty, and control. 'Building sovereign AI and homegrown digital infrastructure will ensure India retains its economic value, safeguards its data and jobs, and shapes technologies to serve its own strategic and business interests. We would not like to end up in a scenario where our digital services like DPI, DPG, and AI platforms are at the whims and fancies of another nation,' he added. The PM also called on the youth of the country to build and create Made-in-India social media platforms and other technology platforms. However, historically India has not been able to make a global mark. One reason is that digital businesses tend to favour first movers in the space. India did try to create its own micro-blogging platform, Koo, similar to X (formerly Twitter). Despite local language support and several celebrities joining the platform, it could not sustain. Mayank Bidawatka, co-founder of Koo, told Business Standard that when it comes to technology, India needs to be patient with adoption and invest heavily in key areas. 'It could be research in medical breakthroughs, automation (robotics, AI, manufacturing), or defence. There are many areas. You just have to rethink what the future will be like and where countries and companies will get a competitive edge by owning the resource or the final product, and start placing bets early,' he added. Bidawatka urged that strategic and national importance should be focused on and protected. 'Create homegrown companies or ask homegrown companies to create solutions with tax breaks/incentives and protect these from outside competition for a few years,' he said. Pankit Desai, co-founder and CEO of Sequretek, a cybersecurity firm, shared that the PM's call to the youth to innovate in AI and cybersecurity is both timely and essential. "As cyber threats evolve at unprecedented speed, India's ability to secure its digital future will hinge on indigenous innovation that blends advanced AI with strong security frameworks. At Sequretek, we believe this is an opportunity to not just consume technology, but to create globally competitive solutions from India," Desai said.