Google’s new payments app for India uses inaudible sound to transfer money

Called Tez, the Hindi word for “fast,” the payment app takes advantage of audio QR, which as the name suggests is basically an audio version of a QR code. But not to worry, users aren’t going to hear annoying sounds whenever anyone transfers money with Tex. The sounds are sent using ultrasonic frequencies, which are inaudible to human ears. Though India has over 300 million smartphone users, many of those phones lack NFC, which is an expensive component for smartphones. Tez’s audio QR capabilities mean that virtually any smartphone user, no matter how cheap the device, will be able to send or receive cash with another user.