WhatsApp to launch digital payments in India

WhatsApp is entering India’s booming digital payments industry, after the demonetization in India and setting up a clash between the Facebook-owned mobile messaging app and Pay TM, the payment startup by Alibaba.

WhatsApp’s website under the heading ” Digital transactions lead, India” announces the forthcoming digital payment service, collaborating with the banks and developing global support.

In India, there is a surge in mobile payments catalysed by the Indian government’s decision in November to replace high-den0mination banknotes in an economy which heavily relied on cash transactions.

This new attempt by Facebook to offer mobile payment services on WhatsApp which it acquired on 2014 for $21.8bn.

WhatsApp which has over 160m users in India is by far the best platform to use for an entry into India’s mobile money market. WhatsApp also is expected to take part in a flagship government project: the unified payments service, which enables money to be transferred between mobile money services and bank accounts.

According to a Google and Boston Consulting, ” Digital payments would grow tenfold to $500bn by 2020 with cash transactions falling from 78 per cent of the total in 2013 to 50 per cent in 2023.