WhatsApp says payments service on track for launch in India: Report

Facebook-owned messaging app WhatsApp has said its payments service is on track for launch in India. The confirmation comes after WhatsApp Pay was suspended within a week of its launch in Brazil on the grounds of preserving a “competitive environment.”

WhatsApp told The Times of India (TOI) that it is working with local banks and regulators to launch WhatsApp Pay in India. The payments service has been in beta stages for over two years over regulatory issues. 

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

Previously, the central government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) expressed concerns over some of WhatsApp’s compliance around data processing. WhatsApp, last week, told the Supreme Court that it is now fully compliant with the RBI’s data regulation norms. The government’s green signal is awaited as relevant regulatory work is completed.

“Even as we continue to work with our local partners and the central bank in Brazil, we remain committed to launching WhatsApp Payments in India. UPI is a lighthouse model for the rest of the world, with local banks and institutions driving innovation on a local stack that is capable of delivering financial services for all,” a WhatsApp spokesperson said.

The statement comes after the Competition Commission of India (CCI) cleared Facebook’s $5.7 million investment in Reliance’s Jio Platforms. Facebook is likely to integrate WhatsApp Pay with JioMart to get offline merchants onboard. Google Pay, one of the leading payments services in India, is also planning to roll out a credit feature for small and medium enterprises by year-end.

Currently, WhatsApp, which has over 400 million users in India, is restricted to 1 million users for the testing of its Payments services.