WhatsApp is one of the most popular instant messaging app having more than 40 crore users in India. Now, WhatsApp started its payment services in India.
In 2018, the Facebook-owned company had started testing its UPI based payments service in India, which allows users to use 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.
India has given permission to launch Facebook Inc.'s WhatsApp payment service. National Payments Corporation of India on Thursday said that the multi-bank Unified Payments Interface Company can gradually start its UPI based payment system with a maximum of 2 crore registered users.
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 without having to exchange cash in person or going to a local bank, WhatsApp said in a blog post
WhatsApp designed our payments feature in partnership with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) using the Unified Payment Interface (UPI), an India-first, real-time payment system that enables transactions with over 160 supported banks.
To send money on WhatsApp in India, it’s necessary to have a bank account and debit card in India. WhatsApp sends instructions to banks, also known as payment service providers, that initiate the transfer of money via UPI between sender and receiver bank accounts.
WhatsApp is working with five leading banks in India: 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.
India's digital payment market already have Paytm, Alphabet Inc.'s Google Pay, Walmart Inc.'s Phone Pay, Amazon Pay and dozens of other startup. WhatsApp has more than 40 crore users in India, which can be helpful in the digital payment market. With its inclusion, the digital payment market will grow to $ 1 trillion by 2023.
However, unlike some other rivals, WhatsApp will be able to systematically acquire customers for its payment service due to the popularity of its messaging app in the country. Payments on WhatsApp is now available for people on the latest version of the iPhone and Android app.