An American giant company WhatsApp has introduced a new feature, WhatsApp Payments. It is now available to India’s users (over 20 million users). The new feature supports the State Bank of India, HDFC, ICICI, and Axis Bank.
Significantly, WhatsApp designed its new payments feature on the National Payments Corporation of India’s UPI system. It was approved in November 2020.
According to a RedSeer Consulting report, digital payments in India will hit $94 trillion by Fiscal Year 2025. WhatsApp Payments strives to cater to that demand. Furthermore, with the launch of the new payment service, the company plans to increase rural participation.
Notably, Abhijit Bose, Head of WhatsApp, India, announced that they are glad to partner with the banks listed above to make simple and secure digital payments.
He announced that UPI is a transformative service. Abhijit also added that they have the opportunity to bring the benefits of their digital economy and financial inclusion to a considerable number of users who have not had full access to them before.
Significantly, the State Bank of India, one of the banking partners, has more than 120 million UPI users. The bank holds a 28% market share as a Remitter Bank, the highest in the UPI ecosystem.
New Feature enables customers to bank seamlessly
According to Mr. Bijith Bhaskar, Head of Digital Channels and Partnership at ICICI Bank, banking on WhatsApp offers enormous convenience. It enables them to bank seamlessly while they are on WhatsApp. He said that the new feature helped customers bank comfortably and remotely without going to the department during the epidemic.
Bhaskar said that they witnessed an encouraging response from their users. More than two million customers adopted WhatsApp’s banking services quickly.
Significantly, with WhatsApp Payments, it is easier to scale essential financial services to people all over the country.
Furthermore, HDFC Bank officials announced that HDFC Bank is happy to be part of WhatsApp’s launch. They believe this is another critical step toward achieving financial inclusion and making affordable financial services available to Indians. To achieve the goal, they need a thriving ecosystem. Different entities come together and work together, keeping the clients at the center. Such partnerships will further help the economic growth and development of the Nation.
Moreover, Sanjeev Moghe, an official at Axis Bank, said that they remain focused on stimulating India’s financial services ecosystem’s digital progression.
