WhatsApp Pay all set to come to India this year
WhatsApp is all set to launch its UPI based Pay service. Global Head Will Cathcart announced on Thursday that the UPI based Pay service will be up for over 300 million users that include small and medium businesses in India, later this year.
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WhatsApp had launched a test run of payments with one million users last year that got stuck in digital payments framework guidelines but is now on the final stages.
Cathcart told the audience at the event, "To boost digital inclusion in India, we can launch the (Pay) service across the country later this year after meeting regulations".
India's digital payment industry is estimated to be $1 trillion by 2023.
As per reports by Omidyar Network and Boston Consulting Group (BCG), there are nearly half of MSME owners that have an annual business revenue of Rs 3 lakhs and Rs 75 crores that would be used for WhatsApp Payments once it gets rolled out.
Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, speaking at the event said that WhatsApp got delayed in meeting India's regulatory norms for launching the digital payment service.
Kant further added that they were looking forward to WhatsApp Pay in India as soon as the regulatory requirements were fulfilled. WhatsApp Pay will help in creating a huge opportunity for MSMEs for going digital.
Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg had announced in April that the company would actively be working to launch WhatsApp Pay in India.
WhatsApp right now has more than 300 million users in India and once it starts a peer-to-peer UPI based Pay service, the sheer number would go beyond Paytm.
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