Google Pay: How the Mobile Payment App Manages Millions of Transactions Per Day
In this post, we will explore how Google Pay manages millions of transactions per day without compromising on performance. Google Pay is a mobile payment app from Google that allows users to store their credit/debit cards and use them securely as well as efficiently. India is moving towards a cashless society, and Google has helped us get there with their new service that allows you can pay for things without any physical money.
Millions of consumers use payment devices to simplify a variety of commercial activities. In a typical transaction at a business location, the payment device is given to a point of sale terminal (also known as a “POS terminal”) located in the merchant’s establishment. The POS terminal may be any kind of card reader or similar gadget that can access data stored on the payment device, such as identification or authentication data.
The payment device reads data which is then sent to the merchant’s transaction processing system. The system sends the data to an acquirer, which is typically a bank or other institution that manages the merchant’s account. The acquirer may send the data to a payment processing network, which helps to determine if the transaction should be authorised and also helps with clearing and account settlement for the transaction.
Technical Architecture
Mobile Devices
Mobile devices let users securely add their cards to Google Pay. This allows them to make payments using the tokenisation process. Tokenisation is when payment networks create a token that is specific to the device, and this helps keep card information secure.
Transit Reader
Transit readers are card readers at a merchant’s location. They can accept payments from Google Pay in the same way they accept payments from a credit card. To do this, the reader must be EMV compliant so it can read cards with chips on them.
Transit Server
The Transit server is maintained by the network operator or a system integrator for transit operators. Card readers frequently connect to the Transit server on an as-needed basis, combining numerous transactions together. Batch processing requests are received and passed on to the payment processor of the transit operator.
Payment Processor
The payment processor is the system that governs transactions. It transforms tokenized payment credentials into real bank account numbers and completes the transaction with the issuing bank.
Token Service Provider (TSP)
The service provider for payment networks, known as the Token Service Provider (TSP), offers services that include tokenizing and de-tokenizing credit and debit cards. Processors utilize TSPs to obtain payment credentials based on the tokens provided by Google Pay.
Google Server
The Google server is responsible for providing a link between Google’s partners and the user’s mobile device.The TSP sends notifications about transactions, like when someone approves or pays for something, to the Google servers. The Google servers use this information to show notifications and receipts to the user.
Conclusion
Google Pay server is used to manage user registration, provisioning and token services which in turn facilitate transactions. Backend securely manages user identity data, account information, credit card data etc. Anyone can make a payment through Google Pay by simply tapping their device. From there onward, all processing activities are automated including payment authorization with the issuing bank . It provides cashless payments with no need of any physical cards or plastic wallet.
Money gets credited into the payee’s bank accounts within few seconds
Read more about Technical Architecture behind Google Pay India: https://developers.google.com/pay/transit/open-loop/setup/technical-architecture
