WhatsApp is partnering with banks and financial institutions to provide payment service gradually across India. The National Payment Corp of India permitted WhatsApp to go with its Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platform under the multi-bank model in a graded manner in the last month.
Will Cathcart, WhatsApp’s global head stated that the Facebook-owned encrypted messaging app is going to collaborate with financial institutions and banks for giving the payment service over the country. The National Payment Corp of India allowed WhatsApp to start with a maximum registered user base of 20 million for payment services. The app has 400 million users in the country.
Cathcart added that through this partnership people can do the transactions without entering a local branch of a bank. The messaging app is feeling that they are just started even though WhatsApp has become a way for hundreds of millions of people in India to communicate. WhatsApp can continue to play an important role in expanding financial inclusion and economic opportunity for everyone in India by working with local partners. The WhatsApp Pay feature will enable peer-to-peer along with business transactions.
Under the multi-bank model, WhatsApp Pay has gone live on the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) owned Unified Payments Interface (UPI) network. The NPCI allows WhatsApp Pay to come after nearly two years of facing regulatory hurdles to a comprehensive launch in India. The company was beta testing its product during this time. WhatsApp India head Abhijit Bose expressed that the services such as micro-credit and insurance would be rolled out soon in association with banking partners
The feature helps individuals for transfer of funds and business transactions through bank accounts. , ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, the State Bank of India, and Jio Payments Bank are the five banks in India the company has currently partnered with. WhatsApp Pay is off to a slow start with just 3,10,000 transactions worth INR 13.87 Cr for UPI transactions in November 2020 as consonance with the data released by NPCI.
