Facebook, one of the giants of social media after acquiring Whatsapp, its biggest acquisition just yet. The company has been pushing and working hard to roll out Whatsapp Pay in India. The company has extended its financial tech tentacles to India for a while now since started testing mobile payments in the country two years ago. The company has had to hold many “round table” discussions with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to make sure that every issue as regards regulatory laws are settled. The social media giants are reportedly carrying out actions to introduce Whatsapp into the lending space in India even though Whatsapp Pay is in a phased roll-out stage.
During the regulatory process, the company stated that credit offering is part of its business plan and no other financial service was listed. This was stated after Amazon introduced “Amazon Pay Later” in India, a service that sees users have access to about 20,000 rupees (264 dollars) credits to purchase different products either items of clothing, basic needs, electronics. Users can also complete bill payments on Amazon. Payments services in India offer credits to their users and also offer online lending of money, Paytm and MobiKwik are one of the biggest financial tech players in India and they offer small-ticket credit to its users.
This year, Paytm looked to expand and launched new gadgets like a stand that shows displays QR check-out codes, this comes with a calculator and battery pack, a point-of-sale machine with built-in scanner and printer, a portable speaker that audio confirmation of every transaction.
Credits have been listed as one of the focal points for Whatsapp Pay. Details as regards credit offering as not been known yet and it is yet to be known if users of Whatsapp will be offered microloans or credits against purchase using this means of payment. Online money lending to users could help Whatsapp Pay. This service would not charge users any fee or bill users for ads.
Late last year at an event in Bangalore, Abhijit Bose, Whatsapp’s head in India stated that mobile payments in India has attracted international and local firms but it has just been introduced and it is in its early stages but could see more companies getting involved and offering more services asides just creating a platform for people to send money to one another.
Even though Whatsapp pay has not received approval for a nationwide rollout, local reports stated earlier this year that the company has started to reach out to the whole country throughout various phases. According to Credit Suisse, it is estimated that the expansion in mobile payments by Whatsapp in India is expected to be as high as $1 trillion by 2023 and this would new challenges have been set for the already existing players. Whatsapp owners, Facebook acknowledges India as one of its biggest markets but does not make enough revenue in the world’s second-largest market, rededicated its commitment to India already this month.
