Tez worked on the vast majority of India's smartphones (with apps for both
Android and
iOS) with the Android app supporting
English,
Hindi,
Tamil,
Bengali,
Gujarati,
Kannada,
Marathi, and
Telugu.[1] There were plans to release the app in other emerging countries including
Vietnam,
Indonesia, and
Thailand.[5] "Tez" is the Hindi word for "Fast". Within 37 days after being launched, Tez got about 8.5 million installations. Over 30 million transactions were made on the app as of 27 October 2017.
The app was compatible with the vast majority of
Android and
iOS devices.
Technology
The application did not require users to share any personal information such as mobile numbers or usernames like other payment applications. Instead, it used audio QR codes[5] that relied on sound transmitted at a frequency inaudible to the human ear from the payee handset to the merchant handset. This technology does away with the need for
NFC chips on the handsets, which gave it an advantage since a significant number of smartphones in India and other developing markets do not have NFC chips embedded. This was indeed a technology ahead of its time.[1]