Facebook gets nod to launch WhatsApp Pay in India

Hyderabad: According to a news report, Facebook Inc.has received permission from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPLC) to launch WhatsApp Pay services in India.

An unnamed RBI executive said, “The National Payments Corporation of India has granted WhatsApp permission to operate its digital payment services in a phased manner”.

The report also stated that the NPCL’s approval comes after permission from the RBI. WhatsApp has said it will comply with the data localization norms, which had been the cause for delay in launching its payments services for two years. The report also said that this feature will be offered to 10 million users in its first phase.

WhatsApp Pay was first introduced in February 2018 in partnership with ICICI Bank for a trial run in India. But it failed to roll out the services due to regulatory blocks. Although the delay in the launch of WhatsApp Pay may have put the app at a disadvantage, sources say it could possibly become the largest UPI service provider considering its huge and active user base. It will be competing with existing payment apps like Google Pay, Amazon Pay, Paytm, and PhonePe