When it comes to messaging apps, the popularity of WhatsApp overshadows all with a user base of around 1.2 billion. That said, the grip is even stronger in India with user count going over 200 million. Facebook Inc. was quick to grab the opportunity when it bought WhatsApp for 22 billion $ in 2014. And after 3 years of its acquisition, the time is here to capitalize on that move.
Going by the report of India-based media company The Ken, WhatsApp is planning to introduce peer-to-peer digital payment in India within next six months. It may be a UPI based service, a cross-bank transaction system supported by Indian government, but nothing can be said for sure. Keeping in mind the changes Indian commerce is going through, the move makes sense “contributing more to India’s vision of completely digital economy”
In January 2017, there were in total more than 262 million transactions through digital payment services worth some $1.3 billion, according to the Reserve Bank of India — up from 100 million transactions last October. This was followed by the demonetization of old currency notes to crack down on tax evasions and counterfeits. Due to lack of hard cash, consumers as well as retailers had to make the major shift of choosing online mode of payment. And they did! Fear brought the change in this case and everyone seems impressed by the efficiency and ease of use these digital platforms provide resulting in this boom.
Facebook recently incorporated support for digital payment in its Messenger app. But, the update was not available for Indian users. WhatsApp is way more popular in India and with the kind of reach it has, such a move might be the most influential step in transforming India. There are some new players in this game as well. Truecaller responded fast enough to the opportunity. Just a week back, the company officially announced its tie-in with ICICI bank, utilizing UPI to bring peer-to-peer transactions on their platform.
Analysts Neil Shah told the Financial Times that the app is already used for selling goods, although informally. “I’ve seen people selling baby clothes, medicines, art and craft supplies — it’s become a Craigslist type of offering,” said Shah.
Anup Singh is a professional writer with a bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from NIT Durgapur. His love for content writing started 2 years back with writing articles and paper descriptions for college magazine. From then on, he has developed his skills as a technical content writer. He is also a passionate lyricist.