Everyone seems excited by the prospect of WhatsApp Pay in India. But there remains a question about which, up to this point, there hasn’t been much clarity.
When will WhatsApp Pay be launched in India? Do you have any idea or a clue? Apparently, the latest news has some information. It’s worthwhile to jump into it directly here.
It appears that the owners of WhatsApp have some information in this regard. Well, here’s what Mark Zuckerberg, the owner of WhatsApp and Facebook has had to say in this regard:
WhatsApp Pay in India will soon get underway.
At the moment, what’s known is that Facebook (the parent company that also owns WhatsApp) is currently testing WhatsApp Pay in the country.
Zuckerberg also happened to confirm that Facebook is actually inching closer to launch the much-awaited WhatsApp Pay in India and soon, one will get to hear a piece of positive news in this regard.
That said, it is needless to ask as to what might have kept the launch of WhatsApp Pay in India at bay? To that end, it is important to note that some data compliance issues and regulations have kept the launch of WhatsApp Pay in India (hitherto) in the waiting queue.
Recently, during an earnings call that took place last Wednesday, Mark Zuckerberg revealed the following information with regards to WhatsApp Pay in India:
“We have our test going in India. The test really shows that a lot of people are going to want to use this product. We’re very optimistic that we’re going to be able to launch to everyone in India soon, but, of course, will share more news when we have that.”
That said, one wonders as to what might be the market size for the soon-to-be-launched social media app-service. It is believed that the peer-to-peer UPI-based app service is expected to cater to a market that’s around 400 million users strong.
Among the frontline purposes of launching the same in India is to encourage a climate of digital inclusiveness in the country, a massive market for Internet operations and led services.
That said, it’s worthwhile to note what the central bank of the country (the RBI) had to say on the matter of the WhatsApp Pay delay in its launch. It is believed that the latest service from the house of Facebook is yet to comply with the bank’s data localisation norms and hence the delay.
On the said matter, the Telecom Minister Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad also offered some views suggesting that if WhatsApp Pay meets the regulatory norms directed by the RBI, then soon, the service could be launched and would be active in India.
Meanwhile, the main man in the picture, Mark Zuckerberg had the following to add, “we differentiate between payment systems that are built on top of the existing financial infrastructure like what we’re trying to do with WhatsApp payments or when we make payments in Instagram Shopping and our work with something like Libra that is trying to build some new technological infrastructure for financial services.”
Furthermore, it’s worthwhile to note that it’s imperative that WhatsApp Pay was launched in India, sooner than later, for it is directly pitted against the likes of Walmart’s PhonePe, Amazon Pay, and Alibaba-backed Paytm. At the moment, these are the few companies that are entangled in a fierce competition to claim a big spot in the digital payments system in India.