Back in 2017, WhatsApp began working on UPI-based payments and aimed to launch it by the end of 2017. It never happened. Now after 3 years of its initial plans, finally WhatsApp is getting UPI payments in India. The company has announced it in an official blog post.
WhatsApp payments is designed in partnership with NPCI using UPI and supports over 160 banks. Just like in any other UPI payments app, you need to link your bank account and debit card to generate a UPI Id.
WhatsApp will roll out the feature in phases. Only 20 million users in the first phase will receive this feature.
UPI is already really popular among Indian consumers. It lets users send and receive payments instantly just by using UPI id or phone number. UPI network has crossed the 2 billion monthly transaction mark for the first time in October 2020.
WhatsApp was the first third-party app that confirmed its plans of bringing a UPI-payment option, but it failed. Google, PhonePe, and Paytm introduced UPI payments and grabbed the most market share.
WhatsApp’s entry in the payment segment will surely hurt PhonePe and Google Pay. Each smartphone user use WhatsApp. If WhatsApp Pay works good, there will be no point of using another payments app. It will also be interesting to see if WhatsApp also introduce cashback or other kinds of offers on UPI payments.
