WhatsApp To Soon Roll Out Payments Services In India

Popular messaging app WhatsApp said it will soon roll out its payments services to users across India.

It added that NPCI is satisfied with WhatsApp’s compliance of the Reserve Bank of India’s payments guidelines on data localisation.

“Our team has worked hard to meet these standards over the last year,” the company said. “WhatsApp shares Honorable Prime Minister Modi’s belief to invest in India and we are committed to playing a strong role by being a significant channel for accelerating financial inclusion and a more Digital India. We are excited to provide payments to all of our users in India soon.”

WhatsApp’s payments plans have been restricted to only 1 million users for over two years since it piloted the feature in India.

CNBC-TV18 has reached out to NPCI for comments and is awaiting a response.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during the company’s Q2 earnings call on July 30 that the company was in talks with regulators in India, as well as in Brazil, but added that talks were progressing slower “than we like.”

Brazil had suspended WhatsApp Pay within a week of its launch in the country in June citing the need for more analysis.