WhatsApp gets nod to start payment services in India
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New Delhi, November 6
WhatsApp on Friday said it is rolling out its payments services in India after receiving nod from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
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In 2018, the Facebook-owned company had started testing its UPI-based payments service in India, which 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.
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— Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO
There is no fee… because its WhatsApp, you know it’s secure and private too. With UPI, India has created something truly special and is opening up a world of opportunities for micro and small businesses that’s the backbone of the Indian economy
On Thursday, NPCI — which runs the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) used for real-time payments between peers or at merchants’ end while making purchases — allowed WhatsApp to start its payments service in the country in a “graded” manner, starting 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 without having to exchange cash in person or going to a local bank,” WhatsApp said in a blogpost.
It added that the payments feature has been designed in partnership with NPCI using UPI, 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 — making it the first country where the service was widely rolled out.
In India, WhatsApp – which counts India as its biggest market with over 400 million users – will compete with players like Paytm, Google Pay, Walmart-owned PhonePe and Amazon Pay. — PTI
To enable transactions with over 160 banks
- The payments feature has been designed in partnership with NPCI using UPI, 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 — making it the first country where the service was widely rolled out
- WhatsApp — which has over 400 million users in India — will compete with Paytm, Google Pay, PhonePe and Amazon Pay
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