Google Pay Sound Pod: All about the new entrant in audio payment alerts

NEW DELHI — Sounding an alarm for Paytm and PhonePe, Google Pay has announced a portable speaker SoundPod that will soon be available for small merchants across the country.

It is an audio device that helps merchants track QR code payments with audio alerts when a payment is received. When customers scan the associated QR code of the merchant and make a successful payment, SoundPod plays an instant voice notification.

According to the company, as part of the daily plan, it will cost INR 499 (one-time fee) and then Rs 5 per day deducted for 25 days in a month from the merchant’s settlement account.

As part of the yearly plan, INR 1,499 for one year (with Rs 500 savings) is deducted from the settlement account.

 “When you receive 400 payments in a month via GPay QR codes, INR 125 cashback is guaranteed,” according to the company.

After merchants receive and set up SoundPod, they can review chosen audio notification service plan status and details.

To receive cashbacks, they should be actively availing audio notification services via SoundPod and accept equal to or more than 400 transactions via GPay QRs.

Once the aforesaid requirements are met, they get cashbacks through a scratch card worth INR 125 in the “offers and rewards” section.

 “The scratch card is valid for 28 days. If it’s not redeemed within the validity period, the scratch card expires,” said the company.

 “Only up to 30 transactions from a single user in a calendar month are counted for the campaign eligibility. Failed transactions aren’t considered eligible transactions,” it added.

Paytm currently leads the portable speaker market and PhonePe is also expanding its portable speaker device.

Paytm in September last year launched “Paytm card sound box”, a new sound box that accepts card payments in addition to mobile payments. The device was priced at INR 999.

In the same month, PhonePe achieved a significant milestone with the deployment of over four million SmartSpeakers.

For SmartSpeaker, the monthly plan has a one-time setup fee of INR 314 and a monthly subscription charge of INR 125. In a zero rental plan, merchants need to pay a one-time setup fee of INR 999 (including GST), and a monthly service fee of 825 is applicable.