Google Pay users in India and Singapore can now receive money from users in the USA. With this, the search giant has expanded its Google Pay features to now include remittance services – an industry that sees $700 billion worth of payments annually.

For this, Google has partnered with Western Union and Wise (formerly known as TransferWise). Thanks to this, Google Pay users in the US will send money directly to Google Pay users in India and Singapore. Furthermore, when shipping, they can choose either of the two options available – Western Union or Wise.

The exchange rate and transfer fee will be displayed while sending money. However, the receivers in India and Singapore will receive the total amount that the US user intends to send – that is, all the charges will be levied to the sender and not the receiver.

So, when sending money, the US user will be asked to enter the exact amount they want to send. Then, the fee and exchange rate will be calculated based on this amount.

Google said it plans to expand this option to 200 countries by the end of the year.

“By the end of the year, we expect that U.S. Google Pay users will be able to send money to people in more than 200 countries and territories through Western Union and to more than 80 countries through Wise,” the company said in its statement.

As part of the launch, all transfers via Western Union will remain free from today till June 16. In case of transfers via Wise, the first transfer will be free for new customers up to $500.

On its part, Google will not levy any transfer fee.

It is worth noting that for now, remittances can only be made from the US to India and Singapore, not the other way around.

Indians form the largest group sending money back home

Indians form the biggest group of immigrants who send money back home – according to the United Nations’ International Organization for Migrants, Indians sent back $78.6 billion in 2018. China and Mexico came in next, with $67.4 billion and $35.7 billion remittances, respectively.

The US remains the largest remitter at $68 billion, followed by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia at $44.4 billion and $36.1 billion, respectively.