WhatsApp Payment illustration.

WhatsApp to Roll Out Digital Payments Service in India

WhatsApp Global Chief Will Cathcart said on Friday (7/26) that the company will launch its first digital payments service in India later this year.

India is one of the world’s quickest major economies where the government has been pushing the rapid growth of digital payments like lending and e-wallet services to bring more citizens in the country to integrate into a formal economy.

Cathcard said with such a service from WhatsApp, it will also help to create critical progress to accelerate financial inclusion in India.

At present, there are 400 million WhatsApp users in India. The messaging app company said it has tasted the payment service with about one million people over the past year. Cathcart added that the service will make it as easy to pay someone on WhatsApp as it is to send a message.

However, since the company still waits for approval from India’s banking regulator, the commercial launch is still on hold for a while.

The hurdles come after WhatsApp initially refused to store data of Indians within the country as required by the Reserve Bank of India. The company insisted to comply with central bank norms for its payment service in India instead.

Once launched, WhatsApp digital payment service will compete with local payment firms like Paytm and Phonepe, as well as global rivals Google Pay and Amazon Pay.

Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/whatsapp-to-launch-digital-payments-service-in-india-11757530