Towards the end of last year, Google introduced two new features in the international version of Google Pay to make group expenses easier to manage -- Groups and Bill Split. The Groups feature then made its way to the Indian version of Google Pay earlier this year. Now, Google has announced that it will soon release the Bill Split feature in the region.

At its annual Google for India event, Google's Ambarish Kenghe announced that Google Pay users in India will soon be able to split bills with friends. The feature will let users add friends or family members to a group chat in Google Pay and add a common expense that they wish to split with the other members.

As you can see in the GIF attached above, users will see a new "Split an expense" button at the bottom of groups on Google Pay. Tapping on it will open up a new window, where users can add the group expense and split it among the members. Once that's done, users will see a Bill Split prompt in the group chat with the total amount, a progress bar showing the number of participants who have transferred their share, and the amount remaining.

At the moment, Google hasn't shared a definite release timeline for the feature. But we expect it to roll out to users in the coming days. We'll make sure to let you know as soon as the feature starts rolling out.

Along with Bill Split, Google Pay for India is also getting support for voice commands to make direct bank transfers and a new MyShop tool to help small businesses create a virtual storefront on the app.

What do you think of Google Pay's new Bill Split feature? Would you prefer it over dedicated bill splitting apps like Splittr or SettleUp? I currently use Splitwise to manage group expenses, as it lets me split multiple expenses with friends over a period of time. Since Bill Split on Google Pay doesn't seem to offer that option, I probably won't make the switch.