WhatsApp will launch its first payment services in India – its biggest market – with more than 400-million users.
The Facebook-owned messaging platform has previously tested it on 1-million accounts. A commercial launch has been on hold while WhatsApp waits for approval from India’s largest banking regulator.
“WhatsApp Payments will make it as easy to pay someone on WhatsApp as it is to send a message,” said WhatsApp global head Will Cathcart.
“We can’t wait to provide this service to our users across India this year,” he added.
According to Cathcart, these types of services were critical in a country such as India, and help bring millions more into the country’s fast-growing digital economy.
Once launched, WhatsApp will compete against local firms, Paytm and Phonepe, as well as the likes of Google Pay and Amazon Pay.
WhatsApp currently has more than 1.5-billion users around the world, however, has been marred with controversy in India where government authorities have questioned the company over its data storage and privacy policies.
