Although apps like Splitwise simplify splitting bills to some extent, it’s a two-step process. First, you need to add expenses to a Splitwise group, and then everyone pays their share using a digital payments app, like Google Pay. However, if you use Google Pay, there’s a more efficient way to split bills and settle your dues. It involves using Google Pay’s built-in bill-splitting feature, which eliminates the need for a bill-splitting app. Let’s jump in and see how you can split bills using Google Pay.
Create a Google Pay Group
Google Pay’s bill-splitting feature is available as part of a group. Hence, you must first create a group and add the involved parties. Here’s how to do it: Google Pay groups are present under the People section on the Google Pay home page.
Add Bill Expenses to a Google Pay and Split Them
After you’ve created a Google Pay group, tap on it from the home page under All People and follow these steps to add expenses and split them: As you do this, Google Pay will send a request to all the members of the group, informing them about the same with the amount they need to pay to clear their dues. All the payment group members make will go to the bank account of the creator of the bill split. Other group members can also share their bill expenses and raise requests for a split. As the number of bills increases, so does everyone’s share. To save you from having to keep up with this and simplify the debts, Google Pay smartly calculates the amount based on all the bills in the group and shares them with everyone—similar to Splitwise’s Simplify Debts feature.
Check the Payment Status for Your Request
If you’ve created a bill split and want to track who has paid their dues and who’s yet to do it, follow these steps to do it: Google Pay will show you a breakdown of all the settlements on the following screen, including the dues.
If you want to send someone a reminder to settle their dues, tap on Send reminder, and Google Pay will send them a reminder immediately. If more people have shared their expenses in the group, and you want to find out your share of the due, there’s a way to do that too. Go to the group and tap the Bill button (one with the receipt icon) at the top. Here, you can see a simplified breakdown of the amount you owe and to who. After which, you can tap the Split expense button and send money across easily.
Close Settlement Request in Google Pay
After you’ve settled dues with group members, you can close the settlement request. Keep in mind, though, that doing so will prevent anyone from sending you money.
Leave a Group in Google Pay
If you wish to leave a group—perhaps because everyone’s got their share of money or because you won’t need it later—you can do so using these steps:
Delete a Google Pay Group
Once all the dues in a Google Pay group are settled, you may want to delete it. Unfortunately, there’s no one-click way to do this, so you need to go a few extra steps. Plus, you can only do this if you’re the group admin.
Splitting Bills and Clearing Dues Is Easier Than Ever
Splitting bills manually and sharing people’s share for their expenses can be quite a task, especially if there are multiple bills and more than one spender in the group. Google Pay makes this process a lot more streamlined and painless. It puts all the features you’d need, from chat to reminders to the ability to split bills intelligently and send money in one place. This eliminates the friction between the lender and the borrower and saves everyone time and effort.
