WhatsApp Payments to soon roll-out in India after RBI's green signal

Full-fledged WhatsApp payments could soon see daylight in India after having met compliance with data localisation rms set by Reserve Bank of India (RBI). In vember 2019, RBI had told Supreme Court about n-compliance and directed National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to t allow WhatsApp to launch full-scale payment business on Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

w central bank has filed an affidavit in Supreme Court, saying NPCI is satisfied with compliance and data stor rules. ICICI Bank is payment service provider bank for WhatsApp and RBI has given green signal to bank to go live. A WhatsApp spokesperson reportedly said that NPCI is satisfied with company’s compliance with RBI’s payments guidelines and messaging app is ready to provide payment service to Indian users.

It is currently offering its payment service to a limited number of users on a trial basis and d by RBI has cleared way for a full-fledged roll-out. WhatsApp currently boasts of over 400 million users in India and is sent to enter online payment system already crowded with PayTM, Google Pay, PhonePe, and Amazon Pay. Google Pay dominates UPI-based payments market with over 42 per cent share but WhatsApp’s massive user base could help messaging firm get to top.

Read: WhatsApp To Offer Credit, Pension, And Insurance Services To Indian Users

Read: WhatsApp Could Soon Allow You To Use Same Mobile Number On Up To 4 Devices

Conversational commerce

Meanwhile, Facebook has also devised a plan to start conversational commerce on WhatsApp, targeting around 400 million active user base. In conversational commerce, people and businesses connect through chat with an intention to purchase goods or services. In India, Facebook is planning to push for financial inclusion and rural services but healthcare services will be excluded from it.

Facebook has already published a whitepaper on conversational commerce with help of Boston Consulting Group (BCG). As live chats for services have failed to receive encouraging feedback, Facebook, through its extensive resource at its disposal, can provide a new lease of life to it using conversational commerce.

Read: WhatsApp Lawsuit Against Israeli Firm NSO Group Given Green Light By US Judge

Read: Over 15 Mn In India Use WhatsApp Business App Every Month

(Im: PTI)