The much-awaited disruption in India’s digital payment sector is probably only weeks away as WhatsApp is all set to launch its full-fledged UPI payments services in India. Following the beta launch last year, the messaging giant had to postpone the launch of its UPI payment services. This after RBI issued new directives in April that made mandatory for all the digital payment companies to maintain their data storage facilities within India.
WhatsApp has now announced that it has completed the setting up of data storage facilities in India, finally paving way for its much awaited launch. According to reports, WhatsApp’s data localization task has now moved to audit process and once this procedure is completed the payment services would go live. The audit process is again in lines with the RBI directives that mandates to get a third-party audit carried out by CERT IN-empanelled auditors
The instant messaging company still hasn’t confirmed about the exact timeline of the launch of its payment services. People privy to the matter claim that the launch may take from few weeks to one month.
WhatsApp will be launching its UPI based payment services with ICICI Bank and later will join hands with other leading banking institutions like HDFC and SBI.
Alongside, RBI has stepped up the pressure on payment companies that are still processing their data outside India. India’s central banks has reportedly given 24 hours timeframe to these companies to shift their data storage facilities in India. Most of these companies included in this list are big foreign players like Google Pay, Amazon Pay, PayPal and others.
Meanwhile, WhatsApp’s anticipated debut has already created buzz in the payment market. With India’s payment market gaining steady traction, the messaging giant’s entry is expected to have an disruptive impact on the sector.
Alibaba backed Paytm is currently the market leader in India’s UPI payment market. But its market leadership is constantly being challenged by rapidly growing popularity of Flipkart’s PhonePe and Google Pay. Amazon Pay is another prominent player that is trying hard to catch up with the market leader Paytm.
The one factor that goes in the favor of WhatsApp is its 200 million user base in India. This can serve as a perfect launchpad for the messaging giant to make a resounding start in the payment market.