Facebook-owned WhatsApp officially rolls out its payment service in India on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) after it received the approval from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), but there's a caveat.
The approval ended a two-year wait for WhatsApp Pay. The company has so far operated several pilot operations for its 1 million beta userbase in India.
Starting today, people across India will be able to send money through WhatsApp 💸 This secure payments experience makes transferring money just as easy as sending a message. pic.twitter.com/bM1hMEB7sb
— WhatsApp Inc. (@WhatsApp) November 6, 2020
After the approval, Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg in a video statement stated, "We've been working on this with the National Payments Corporation of India, who oversee everything to make sure it’s secure and reliable. And we’ve built it using India’s Unified Payments Interface, which makes it easy for anyone to instantly accept payments across different apps — and for companies to provide people with great services."
He further added, "With UPI, India has created something truly special and is opening up a world of opportunities for micro and small businesses that are the backbone of the Indian economy. India is the first country to do anything like this. I’m glad we were able to support this effort and work together to help achieve a more digital India. I want to thank all our partners who’ve made this possible."
Key Highlights:
1- The payment service will only be rolled out to 20 million users in a 'graded manner'.
2- The payment service is available in 10 Indian regional languages.
3- Users can transfer funds across 160 banks in India via WhatsApp.
4- The company is working with five leading banks in India: ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, the State Bank of India, and Jio Payments Bank.
5- Payments on WhatsApp is now available for people on the latest version of the iOS and Android app.
What is the caveat?
As per NCPI, the payment service can only be rolled out to 20 million users in a 'graded manner' while WhatsApp has over 400 million users in India. NCPI will also enforce a 30% cap on third-party apps, ensuring that no single app processes more than the said percentage of all the UPI transactions in a month starting from January 1, 2021.
How to set up your WhatsApp Payments account?
1- Open WhatsApp and tap on the three-dotted icon on the top right corner of the app.
2- Tap on 'Payments' and then 'Add payment method'.
3- Choose your bank from the list provided.
4- Tap on 'Verify via SMS' to verify the number linked with your bank account. Make sure that your WhatsApp number and the one linked to your bank is the same.
5- After the successful verification, set up a UPI PIN for carrying out transactions.
How to send or receive money via WhatsApp Pay?
1- Open WhatsApp and then the chat of the person to whom you want to send the money.
2- Tap on the attachment icon and then on 'Payment'.
3- Add the amount you wish to send. You can also add a note.
4- You will now be asked to enter your UPI PIN.
5- Ater successfully entering the correct UPI PIN, you will receive a confirmation message.
Background
In February 2018, the company beta-tested WhatsApp Pay amassing 1 million users. The App offered P2P capabilities when users linked their WhatsApp accounts to bank accounts. However, it did not meet the RBI's data localization norms before the October 15, 2018 deadline by providing domestic data storage.
Earlier this year, the company launched its pay service in Brazil which was shut down within ten days by the Central Bank of Brazil over competition issues.
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