WhatsApp planning to launch UPI-based payment system in India

Facebook-owned WhatsApp seems to be planning to enter into the mobile payments segment in India.A WhatsApp move into digital payments in India, its biggest market that is home to 200 million of its billion plus global users, would replicate similar moves by messaging apps like Tencent Holdings Ltd’s WeChat in China.

The popular messaging app is reportedly planning to introduce a peer-to-peer payment system in the country, which is likely to be based on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platform.
If launched, it will be first such offering globally from the social networking giant. According to a report in The Ken website, citing unnamed sources, WhatsApp is working to launch person-to-person payment system in India in the next six months. 

A job advertisement on WhatsApp’s website said it was looking for a candidate with a technical and financial background – who understands India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and the BHIM payments app that enable money transfers and merchant payments using mobile numbers – to be its digital transactions lead for the country.

“India is an important country for WhatsApp, and we’re understanding how we can contribute more to the vision of Digital India,” a WhatsApp spokesman said, referring to a flagship government programme that aims to boost the use of Internet-based services in the country.

“We’re exploring how we might work with companies that share this vision and continuing to listen closely to feedback from our users,” the spokesman said, declining to elaborate further.

Digital transactions in India have surged after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in November 2017.