Facebook’s online payment service WhatsApp Pay is expected to launch in India later this month. The beta version of WhatsApp Pay has been in the country for two years. But due to some technical difficulties, WhatsApp Pay has not been officially launched. However, after much wait, it is reported that WhatsApp will launch in late May 2020. Earlier, it was reported that WhatsApp had authorized by the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch payment services in phased manner. Facebook’s proprietary messaging app will partner with three leading banks – ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank. State Bank of India has reportedly refused to cooperate with WhatsApp in the first phase.
WhatsApp also complies with the data localization criteria of the Reserve Bank, which is the main cause of the launch delay, the report said. But WhatsApp says it will launch a payment service step by step to help banks handle a lot of transactions. WhatsApp has 40 crore users in India.
We will continue to work with the government so that all of our users have access to WhatsApp payments. WhatsApp payments will help accelerate digital payments in the country. This is especially important during Covid. “This is the safest way to deal with 400 million users in India,” a WhatsApp spokesman said. WhatsApp Pay is expected to be a huge success in terms of the number of users in India. And it’s easy to use since users don’t have to download another app. WhatsApp Pay will be a tough challenge to the existing payment services in the country such as Google Pay and PayTM.
