New Delhi: WhatsApp said Friday it is rolling out its payments services in India. WhatsApp gave out this information after receiving nod from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). In 2018, the Facebook-owned company had started testing its UPI-based payments service in India. It allows users to utilise the messaging platform to send and receive money. The testing was limited to about a million users as it waited for regulatory approvals to come in.
The NPCI runs the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) used for real-time payments between peers or at merchants’ end while making purchases. It allowed Thursday WhatsApp to start its payments service in India in a ‘graded’ manner. The NPCI said that WhatsApp should start with a maximum registered user base of 20 million in UPI.
“Starting today, people across India will be able to send money through WhatsApp. This secure payments experience makes transferring money just as easy as sending a message. People can safely send money to a family member or share the cost of goods from a distance,” WhatsApp said in a blogpost.
It added that the payments feature has been designed in partnership with NPCI using UPI. It is an India-first, real-time payment system that enables transactions with over 160 supported banks.
In June this year, WhatsApp had launched ‘WhatsApp Pay’ in Brazil. It was the first country where the service was widely rolled out.
WhatsApp counts India as its biggest market with over 400 million users. It will have to compete with players like Paytm, Google Pay, Walmart-owned PhonePe and Amazon Pay.
“Payments (service) on WhatsApp is now available for people on the latest version of the iPhone and Android app. We’re excited to join India’s campaign to increase the ease and use of digital payments,” the app said. It added that users will need to have a bank account and debit card in India to send money through the platform in India.
WhatsApp said it is working with five banks in India. They are ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, the State Bank of India, and Jio Payments Bank. People can send money on WhatsApp to anyone using a UPI supported app.
“In the long run, we believe the combination of WhatsApp and UPI’s unique architecture can help local organisations address some of the key challenges of our time, including increasing rural participation in the digital economy and delivering financial services to those who have never had access before,” WhatsApp said.
“There is no fee… because its WhatsApp. You know its secure and private too. With UPI, India has created something truly special. It is opening up a world of opportunities for micro and small businesses that’s the backbone of the Indian economy,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a video message. He added that the payments service will be available in 10 Indian language versions of WhatsApp.
