Wondering how PayTM sound box & Google Voice Notifications has helped the small merchants and boost the E-wallet business in India then you are at the right place. The World has been changing with each passing day so has digital India. Due to high-speed Internet and Mobile Technology our shopping & online transactions have changed . People now use mobile applications to choose the items of their choice and make purchases with UPI payment via the same application. This provides them with an integrated payment gateway service.
Though the online transactions has become a new norm everywhere. It is India, which has become a torchbearer of Digitalization. And achieving the Digital India dream. We have seen a gradual increase in the Digital Payments, especially post demonetization and the Covid-19 pandemic. The momentum has been in favour of Digital Payment systems. This is a reason why every organization is migrating and adopting the Digital Payment system.
Statistics for online transactions
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Currently, we have 1.1 billion mobile subscribers and more than 160 million wireless broadband users in India. As per RBI (Reserve Bank of India), The daily transactions average at about 100 million for a volume of Rs 5 trillion. And it is going to surpass 1.5 billion transactions, worth Rs 15 trillion a day by 2025. These statistics prove the importance of this space and it also demands innovation. Fintech and technological advancement to tap the user base. We have seen a massive increase in instant bank-to-bank transfers via UPI in the last 2-3 years. Thus it has become the preferred method of payment for millions of Indians.
The Overwhelming Usage of Mobile Wallets and Paytm sound box
The most crucial part of the Digital Payment system is a Mobile wallet. A mobile wallet is a digital asset and that is why it is called an e-wallet. In a layman language, we can say that it is a wallet in a mobile application. In it users can store money for making online, mobile, and offline payments. A decade ago, nobody had heard about E-wallet or Mobile Wallet. But now it has surpassed the usage of credit and debit cards. And becoming the de facto standard for digital payment systems.
We have various kinds of e-wallets There are various types of mobile wallets in India, such as open, closed, semi-open, and semi-closed, depending on the kind of usage and payments being made. e-wallets are immensely popular these days, as they facilitate effective and efficient transactions, especially for Online marketplaces and e-commerce companies, that have integrated e-wallets in their payment gateways. Post demonetization, the Government of India did launch UPI (Unified Payment Interface) which has made the usage of e-wallets even easier, as not the money transfer happens directly from the Bank account instead of the wallet.
Challenges of Digital Transactions – A Case Study
There is a famous quote by James Surowiecki, that “Technology is supposed to make our lives easier, allowing us to do things more quickly and efficiently”. Well, this is correct; however, the truth is, advancement in Technology comes along with challenges and problems. The same applies to Digital Payment systems and e-Wallets as well. Let us take a real-life example to understand the challenges with the e-Wallets and Digital Payment system, especially in India.
We usually go out to purchase items of daily usage from our nearby shops. We have to make the payment via several methods, it could be a wallet-to-wallet transfer, a simple UPI transfer, we may scan the QR code and then make the transfer of the amount.
Ease for vendors
These methods are quite useful for the Vendors, as they are no longer required to manage the cash transactions, the money will be directly transferred to their bank accounts, or their wallets, from where they can transfer the money to their respective bank accounts.
However, there are certain challenges, which are hindering all these digitization efforts up to a certain extent. The Buyers and the Vendors were facing a couple of challenges, and we have listed a couple of them here.
Challenges faced by vendors
- There is an uncertainty of payment success. The vendors are concerned about managing the payments during rush hours. They are afraid that people could show their phones and act as if they have made the payment and leave the premises without paying at all.
- The vendor must share the QR code which the buyer scanned and then must wait till the payment is confirmed, and the vendor gets a message. The SMS often does not come instantly and that creates an awkward situation for both Vendor and Buyer. Notifications are unpredictable and too many delays are defeating their purpose.
- Vendors must wait for the payment notifications, and they can easily lose track of innumerable payment messages. For a shop with a huge number of customers visiting and transacting, one certainly needs a confirmation which is beyond ‘show me the screen’.
- Not every Vendor is comfortable with handling Smartphones and possesses awareness about the tools and technology. Most of them use feature phones and using e-wallets and UPI is an alien thing for them, hence it is a pain area for them.
- Some buyers do take the screenshot of their previous payments, and they show those screenshots to Vendors as if that was the recent payment. Vendors do not have any concrete mechanism to validate until they get a notification.
- If the Shop owner is not around and the transaction is done by the shop employee, then the employee has to take a picture of the payment screen, in case there is an issue with the transaction, and then there may be a lot of troubles like failed transaction, amount stuck, refund, etc.
- To counter such kinds of challenges, a couple of organizations have brought in some solutions, and these solutions are helping the buyers and vendors like anything.
Google Payment Voice Notification
As a leading company Google has been at the forefront of technological advancements in recent years. First, they launched the Google Pay application with elan, they created a sort of stir in the Indian Digital payment market with their simple and effective application. If that was not enough, they have launched a Google Payment Voice notification service recently to counter the challenges we have.
The primary objective of these additional notifications is to help users identify any suspicious transactions and keep their money secure. Google always works to deliver better security to its users and it launched notifications and SMS alerts to clarify the movement of the money to the right direction securely for both end-users and vendors.
Benefits of Google Payment Voice Notification
- It provides an immediate Payment announcement with a loud alert sound.
- It helps in the integration and quick settlement of the payments.
- It supports all payments done via the Google Pay application.
- It provides 24×7 customer support.
- It offers the ability to make the announcement in the local language.
The Google merchant app automatically plays a voice alert and show a screen notification for every successful UPI payments instantly. The merchant can choose his own preferred vernacular language for the voice notifications. Sounds exciting to know How to manage voice notifications check these steps.
How to Configure Google Voice Notification?
Google Voice notifications are available for Google Pay for Business application. This application plays an on-screen and voice notification for every successful transaction. It also lets you choose your preferred language for voice notifications. Here are the steps to configure the Google Payment voice notification.
- Open Google Pay for Business app.
- Then please tap on My store.
- Tap on the Payment voice notifications option.
- Go to Turn on voice notifications and turn it on or off.
You can change your preferred language for voice notifications
- On your Android device, open the Google Pay for Business app.
- Then tap on My store.
- Tap on Payment voice notifications.
- Choose the language of your choice, it shows most of the Indian regional languages.
When Google Payment Notification Service does not work?
- If your phone is on mute.
- If the Do Not Disturb (DND) service is activated on your SIM.
Here this option gives the end-users to receive their notifications in voice mode. Once any transaction is completed successfully, the google voice notification feature will make an announcement for the same, which helps the end-user to confirm the status of the transaction.
Paytm Sound Box
Paytm, which is the biggest player in the digital transactions space in India. It has launched too many Digital Payment solutions and it has earned enormous popularity due to it is out of box solutions. It was the first company that integrated the Indian Government’s BHIM UPI in its platform as an alternative payment method. IT has also launched a postpaid service, known as Paytm Money that allows users to borrow funds to buy groceries, pay bills, order food, book tickets and pay them within given timelines.
Paytm understood this colossal challenge its customers were facing, and it came up with another path breaking and easy solution. Paytm’s primary focus was towards smoothening the payment process and keeping the concerns in mind, it came up with a new smart device, which is famously known as ‘Soundbox’.
It is a small speaker with an internal SIM card slot, and it acts as a voice-activated POS (point-of-sale) machine for the retailer/vendor. The primary objective of SoundBox is to alert the Vendor if the previous payment transaction has been completed successfully or not. It reduces the dependency of the Vendor on the SMS notification. A buyer can simply scan the QR code and make the payment, the Soundbox will simply announce that “Amount has been received successfully”.
What is Paytm sound box?
SoundBox comes with a speaker and it is powered by MediaTek’s MT6261 SoC (System-On-chips) that is developed especially for IoT (Internet of Things) devices. It comes with 4G connectivity and it remains connected to the internet to facilitate online payments on behalf of the vendor. It is an extremely simple device that makes transactions easier.
With the box installed at the shop, the Vendor does not need a smartphone to accept and track the payments. The device is issued to vendors for a nominal subscription fee, just like the Paytm card-swiping machines it offers to its premium customers.
Benefits of Soundbox
- It offers an Instant Payment announcement with a loud alert sound.
- Facilitate seamless Integration and quick settlement of the payments.
- It can replay the last transaction by pressing the function key.
- It supports all payment methods including Paytm Wallet, other Apps with UPI interface, and BHIM UPI.
- It provides 24X7 customer support.
- It offers the ability to make the announcement in the local language.
Recently Paytm launched it’s new sound box version 2.0, below is an review for Unboxing of sound box paytm and it’s comparison with old version of sound box paytm version 1
Google Payment Voice Notification, Paytm Soundbox, Notification Reading Apps – Comparative Analysis
| Features | Google Payment Voice Notification | Paytm Soundbox Device, integrated with Paytm for Business Application | Notification Reading Apps |
| Availability | Available on all App Marketplace | Available on all App Marketplace | Available on all App Marketplace |
| Cost | Free | Rs. 1999 Lifetime planRs. 499 (one-time fees) and then Rs. 125 per month. | Free |
| Integration | Google API | Via Paytm for Business Application | Application API |
| Additional Hardware Requirement | No | – It is powered by the MediaTek MT6261 SOC.– Will be used as an Internet of Things (IoT) device in future.– It comes without a battery; hence the Sound Box must be connected to the power source all the time.– Comes with a Sim card, AC power adapter and cable. | No |
| Operating System supported | Android and iOS | Android and iOS | Android and iOS |
| Customer Support | 24*7 | 24*7 | 24*7 |
| Multiple Language support | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Type | Mobile App | Point of Sale device with the speaker. Integrated with Paytm for Business Application | Mobile App |
| Internet Connectivity required | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Network support | All Mobile Network | 4G | All Mobile Network |
| Payment Method support | Debit & Credit Cards, BHIM UPI, Paytm Wallet, Bank and Net Banking | Debit & Credit Cards, BHIM UPI, Paytm Wallet, Paytm Payments Bank and Net Banking | NA, as this is just a notification reading application |
Technical Specifications of Paytm sound box
- It is powered by the MediaTek MT6261 SOC.
- It is targeted to be used in the Internet of Things (IoT) devices in the future.
- It can take a maximum input of 5V at 1.5A.
- It comes without a battery; hence Sound Box must be connected to the power source all the time.
- Comes with a Sim card, AC power adapter, and cable.
3rd Party Tools for Notification Reading
Apart from the above features provided by Google and Paytm app, we have a few popular 3rd party applications, which offer the ability to read the notification
Voice Notification
This is a simple application which powers a smartphone to read the text you wish aloud. It offers the following features
- It automatically detects the language of the spoken text to speak correctly.
- It speaks the name of the caller when the phone is ringing.
- It speaks the content of an SMS and announces the name of the sender.
- It speaks the text when you copy it.
- When an application posts notifications such as WhatsApp, Messenger, or Facebook, this application extracts the content of the notifications and reads them out. It helps you hear the chat conversation without being seen.
Speaki – Voice Notifications
This is another 3rd party application that can read your notifications and voice them out loud if your smartphone has Text-to-Speech support for notifications in the text’s language.
- It tries and learns to read only the relevant text from your notification.
- It allows users to select the apps they would like Speaki to read aloud.
- It protects your privacy and control when Speaki should read.
- It allows you to set silent hours.
- It allows reading aloud full notification content, besides the title and the summary.
- Caller ID – speak caller ID on an incoming call. (For Android 8.1 and below)
- Stop – stop Speaki from reading by shaking your device, double-pressing the power key, or pressing the stop/play button on your headset.
- No interruption during phone calls.
- Quick enable/disable switch and tile.
- Speaki develops the atmosphere to understand the user’s input through reading notifications only if your device supports text-to-speech.
- It can use either the Text-To-Speech (TTS) engine or any other TTS engine available on Google Play Store.
- To configure the Speaki, we need to install the app, then open it and toggle on the Enable Speaki option. We have to grant Speaki access to the Notifications services so that it can read them aloud. We can select those applications, whose notifications could be read by Speaki, and we can exclude unnecessary applications as well.
Why are such Fintech IoT Innovative Solutions Important?
As we have already mentioned above, we are migrating towards a Digital and Cashless Era, where all the transactions will be digital. It is essential to understand that to make any User/Vendor/Retailer trust an e-payment or e-wallet system. We need to convince them that their money would be safe with the Digital payment platform and that it could be transferred to the bank, whenever they require.
Unawareness about the tools and process could create a sense of doubt for the end-users and it might keep people away from things they do not understand. As soon as they would learn and understand the functioning and the benefit of using such an e-payment and e-wallet system they would readily use such mechanisms for business and personal requirements.
How to Integrate Google Voice Payment Notification into a wallet application?
If your Android application is distributed through the Google Play store, you can integrate it with the Google Pay API. You can also configure the additional features as per needs such as payment cards and more.
Currently, Google deploys Google Pay API to only a limited number of partners. If you are not one of those partners, you’re welcome to read the documentation and test the integration using the sandbox environment.
How to Integrate Talk It All Sound Box with your Mobile Applications?
We need to understand that SoundBox is an IoT device and the IoT market is going to reach 7.1 trillion dollars by 2020 according to IDC. Today many businesses are excited to develop mobile applications that can support or utilize IoT devices to enhance the end-user experience. There is a new domain named IoT application development, which is driving the market. IoT devices interfaces could be exploited and integrated with the existing e-wallet application with the device-level application programming interfaces (APIs).
An IoT integration is all about Application Programming Interfaces, which acts as the logical connectors that allow mobile applications to communicate with the IoT devices, SoundBox in this scenario. APIs trigger the payment-related data that enables the SoundBox to send the data to the host, acting as a data interface. API’s will also allow your application to control the device and serve as a functional interface.
Let us say, if you want to communicate with a SoundBox device, which is indeed a voice-activated POS (point-of-sale) machine that comes with a SIM slot, which helps it to remain connected with the internet all the time, it could be controlled using a mobile e-wallet application. The e-wallet mobile app can communicate with the SoundBox device using the API such as JavaScript Rest API and other 3rd party tools and can receive and exploit the data it receives from the e-wallet application.
How can Talk It All Sound Box TIA help you?
TIA is known for providing tailor-made smart sound box solutions for its clients. We are a pioneer in developing mobile applications that can provide e-wallet and other digital payment modules to our clients. We can integrate google payment voice notification service into your wallet application via Google Pay APIs. It will be a cost-effective method to add this feature to a wallet application.
We can also integrate Paytm’s innovative SoundBox technology with a digital payment application to enhance the experience of your end-users. Though, we are very aware of the cost the end-user might have to bear the cost. We can also offer the amalgamation of technology where the notification could be sent to the smartphone and it could use the onboard speaker to announce the details of the transaction, just like the SoundBox. It will be a wonderful solution for Clients who have budget constraints.
Conclusion
If we are talking about 3rd party voice notification applications or developing & integration of sound box with your e-wallet Contact Talk It All today It is important to note that we have our own manufacturing plant & inhouse team of experienced mobile app development team. Such applications development requires blend of technology and financial markets domain knowledge. so we offer dedicated APIs for such service integration. Our developers can leverage their expertise to integrate those features into customized digital payment applications for our clients so that they can avail the benefits of these services without shelling too much money & time.