NPCI approves WhatsApp payment service to go live on UPI

After two years of testing, WhatsApp payment service has received approval from National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to go live on Unified Payment Interface (UPI) in the multi-bank model. WhatsApp can expand its UPI user base in a graded manner starting with a maximum registered user base of 20 million in UPI, NPCI said.

NPCI issued two separate statements allowing WhatsApp to set transaction limits.

According to the statement, the limit of 30 percent of the total number of all transactions in process under UPI will be applicable to all third-party App Service Providers (TPAPS) from January 1, 2021.

According to the statement, WhatsApp can now start its UPI services under the multi-bank model. It can increase its number of subscribers in a phased manner and can start it through two crore registered users.

In India, the WhatsApp payment service will compete against other major players like Google Pay and PhonePe, among others.

The Facebook-owned private messaging service has over 400 million users in India; while other third-party apps – Google Pay has 75 million users Phone Pay has 60 million users. WhatsApp had been operating the service on a pilot basis for the last two years but was not given official permission due to non-fulfillment of data localization requirements.

The move comes after NPCI in August had informed the Reserve Bank of India that WhatsApp had met data localisation requirements.

Brazil became the first country to roll out WhatsApp payment service in June. Bloomberg Quint