- WhatsApp Pay may arrive in India in February, according to a new report.
- This is said to allow for simple, peer-to-peer transactions, and merchant transactions in future.
- Security concerns present a significant hurdle for Facebook to overcome before rolling it out.
It was speculated last April that the WhatsApp Pay mobile payments system could be here within 6 months. Though we’re now several months past that period, a new report suggests WhatsApp Pay may still lie just around the corner.
The information arrives from a source at The Economic Times who said the platform “is already in beta stage with one of [Facebook’s] partner banks.” The source also added that it could roll out fully next month, depending on how the trial period works out. A banker separately confirmed that this system was in the latter stages of development in the nation.
This would be a huge development not just for Facebook (who owns WhatsApp) and the more than 200 million active WhatsApp users in India, but also the Indian government. WhatsApp will apparently use a government-backed system called the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to allow users to send each other money within the app—presenting a significant opportunity to get (part of) the population accustomed to the mobile payments ecosystem.
But security concerns might hold up its rollout, as making these transfers simple and secure is a big undertaking that requires integration with various Indian banks. Ensuring this functions properly before the system goes live will be crucial.
Once the peer-to-peer transaction system is finalized, however, rolling it out for merchant payments would not “be a huge challenge,” said one of The Economic Times’ sources.
Would you be keen to send money through WhatsApp? Let us know in the comments.
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