OnePlus Pay could soon debut in India to challenge Google Pay - Android

The mobile payment service could debut in India sometime later this year.

What you need to know

• A trademark filing suggests OnePlus Pay could be launched in India very soon.
• The payment service was launched in China in March last year.
• In addition to NFC-based payments, OnePlus Pay is also expected to feature a mobile wallet.

OnePlus could soon launch its mobile payment service in India, according to a screenshot of trademark filing shared by a tipster on Twitter. The screenshot shows the trademark for OnePlus Pay filed by OnePlus has been accepted by the Registrar of Trademarks in India.

OnePlus files the trademark for OnePlus Pay in India.#OnePlus #OnePlusPay pic.twitter.com/nzU1U9ipAH

— Mukul Sharma (@stufflistings) April 5, 2021

OnePlus had announced its mobile payment service alongside the OnePlus 7T series phones in 2019. It finally went live for users in China in March last year, and is currently exclusive to OnePlus' home market. Similar to Google Pay, OnePlus Pay is an NFC-based payment app. In India, OnePlus Pay might also offer a mobile wallet to take on the best Android apps for mobile payments in the country. Another feature that you can expect OnePlus Pay to offer in India is support for UPI-based payments.

While there is no doubt that OnePlus is among the most popular smartphone brands in India, it will certainly not be an easy task for OnePlus Pay to compete with rivals such as Google Pay, PhonePe, and Paytm. PhonePe and Google Pay are currently two of the most popular apps for UPI payments in the country, with a combined market share of approximately 79%.

In China, OnePlus Pay can be easily accessed on OnePlus' best Android phones by double-pressing the power button. To use the service, however, users are required to set OnePlus Pay as their default NFC-based payment app. OnePlus claims its mobile payment service is both faster and more convenient to use than rival services.