With more than 200 million Indian users already using WhatsApp, They are now set to launch digital payment system that lets their users transfer money to each other.
Just 16 months back, demonetization forever changed the monetary system. Many Indians started to use digital payment services.
WhatsApp joins the race with Google Tez, Paytm, Flipkart, Amazon Pay and dozens of others already existing digital payment services. Mobile payments caught fire at the end of 2016 when the government’s demonetization temporarily took 86% of all paper currency out of circulation to tackle corruption.
WhatsApp Pay has potential impact over its already established userbase, not only that, it has drawn comparisons with WeChat and how it reshaped payments system in China.
WhatsApp daily active usage is 20 times higher than Paytm, and in fact Indian users spend a lot more time on WhatsApp even more than Facebook.
While it’s still in a test phase and available only to a fraction of its Indian users, WhatsApp Pay is compatible with the country’s UPI i.e. Unified Payments Interface. The full roll-out of WhatsApp Pay is expected as early as April 2018.
So, I hope every WhatsApp user will be excited about this new feature and how they could excel in sending digital money to their friends and family.
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