SynopsisIn the last several weeks, WhatsApp introduced India-specific features on WhatsApp Pay, including adding ₹ (rupee) symbol in its chat composer for sending payments, and the camera icon in composer, which allows users to scan any QR (quick response) code.
Bengaluru:WhatsApp Pay is planning to invest significant sums in India over the next six months to speed up the growth of its payment service and will work towards a full-fledged rollout, its top executive told ET.
WhatsApp, the instant messaging app owned by Meta (formerly Facebook), has received approval to scale up its payments business to a tenth of its India user base.
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), India’s flagship payments processor, allowed WhatsApp on Friday to double the number of users on its payments service in the country to 40 million from the approved 20 million last year.
WhatsApp claims it has more than 400 million users in India, but industry estimates peg it at about 500 million. It works on United Payment Interface (UPI).
“Over the next 6 months, we have planned significant investments in WhatsApp Pay across India—including many more “India-first” features—that we are sure will accelerate our growth,” Manesh Mahatme, director-payments, WhatsApp India, told ET. “As the adoption of WhatsApp Pay increases with users across the country, we look forward to working with NPCI to further expand it to all users.”
In the last several weeks, WhatsApp introduced India-specific features on WhatsApp Pay, including adding ₹ (rupee) symbol in its chat composer for sending payments, and the camera icon in composer, which lets users scan any QR (quick response) code.
“Since our initial approval from NPCI, we have been working to deliver a simple, reliable, and secure experience for WhatsApp users that we hope will accelerate the adoption of UPI for the “next five hundred million” Indians,” Mahatme said.
Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Meta, paid $19 billion to buy WhatsApp and sees payments as the final piece in Facebook’s commerce strategy that starts with advertising-led product discovery and shopping and ends with purchase – all within his family of apps.
However, enthusiasm about WhatsApp Pay in India has not translated into numbers due to graded regulatory approvals.
WhatsApp Pay’s market share in UPI transactions stands at less than 1%, whereas Walmart-backed PhonePe and Google Pay‘s market share is 46% and 34%, respectively.
On losing out to Google Pay and PhonePe, Mahatme said, “We have a very long-term view on India, and it is still very early days for digital payments in India. We have taken our time with payments on WhatsApp because we were very clear that we want to ensure a good user experience.”
The government has stalled WhatsApp Pay’s rollout for years, at first because of Facebook’s refusal to store financial data within the country and later on concerns about privacy and cybersecurity. WhatsApp, which has sued the government on its mandate to weaken encryption, is also under antitrust investigation for its new privacy policy.
Mahatme pointed out that these were “two entirely different subjects and it’s not fair to conflate them. We are respectful of India’s new IT Rules.”
“Our conviction and commitment are towards protecting the privacy of people’s messages, through end-to-end encryption technology. On traceability, as you know, the matter is sub-judice,” he added.
WhatsApp Pay’s aim of providing financial access is aligned with Zuckerberg’s strategy on metaverse, which blends the virtual and physical worlds, he said.
“We believe social experiences will be at the heart of the Metaverse. And when we talk about the metaverse, we are talking about a future where people are at the centre of technology,” Mahatme said.
WhatsApp is a standard communication tool where companies could list products for sale on the app, communicate and receive orders through direct messages, and finally accept payment for those orders.
By putting payments into WhatsApp, which most Indians already have, users do not need to exit Facebook’s apps throughout their purchase journey. With this, Zuckerberg can finally make money off WhatsApp’s massive user base and is Facebook’s ticket to monetise India’s one-billion-strong marketplace.
Digital advertising spends in India are at around $8-$9 billion annually, while they are $190 billion a year in the United States, according to various industry estimates.
(Originally published on Nov 29, 2021, 06:00 AM IST)
Share the joy of reading! Gift this story to your friends & peers with a personalized message. Gift Now
aniltikotekar4sme.com 