WhatsApp Gets Closer to Launch Date of Payments in India

The payment services has been available few million users in the country since 2018 in beta phase.

WhatsApp Payment is still available in beta in India.

(Photo: The Quint)

WhatsApp Payment is finally setting up the groundwork for a full-fledged launch in India, moving from its current beta phase in the country.

The social messaging giant is reportedly wrapping up the audit of its data practices by a third party firm. This will open up the gates for the platform to cater to over 200 million users by offering them Unified Payment Interface (UPI) linked services through banks.

This is similar to how Google Pay works for millions of smartphone users, and even Paytm offers bank-linked payment option for the consumers. According to Bloomberg report on Wednesday, WhatsApp is being investigated by third-party auditor, making sure that all payment related data are stored within the country.

The report, quoting a source, has mentioned WhatsApp is now ready to submit its report and seek approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to launch its payment operations for everyone.

The report also states that WhatsApp refused to comment on the status of the audit, but it’s likely that after its debut in 2018, WhatsApp Payment will finally catch a break in the Indian market.

Offering its services in India is critical for the future of WhatsApp Payment in different parts of the world, as the pilot testing of the product will determine how the system functions in other countries. This was pointed out by Mark Zuckerberg during the F8 Conference 2019 earlier this year.

WhatsApp Payment feature is available to a few users in India right now.(Photo: The Quint)

We have a test that is running in India for WhatsApp now, we’re hoping to launch in several other countries at some point, but I don’t want to put a timeframe on that here, but it’s something that we’re actively working on

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO, Facebook on analysts call

To use Payment on WhatsApp both the sender and receiver need to activate UPI on their phones.

The payment feature is enabled merely by linking the app to the country’s Unified Payment Interface (UPI) that allows users to link their bank account without sharing confidential details.

WhatsApp can expand its base of merchants with payments in India, especially when host of digital services are offering their support to the users via WhatsApp Business in the country.