1. May launch as soon as next month The payments facility in WhatsApp may comes as soon as February. According to a report in Economic Tmes, the platform is likely to go live for consumers by the end of February. The company is already running trials with its partners.
2. WhatsApp will act as a top layer According to the report, WhatsApp will act as a top layer that will identify both the sender and the recipient at the back-end. It further adds that since the app's payments platform will be integrated with banks, it will also identify the bank account of the customers. Finally, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) will help settle the transactions. WhatsApp is reportedly at various stages of integrating its UPI-based system with its banking partners.
3. UPI has emerged as the most popular payments platform Over the last few months, UPI has emerged as one of the fastest-growing payments instruments in the country. It is said to have reported 145 million transactions in the month of December 2017.
4. WhatsApp has already tied up with SBI, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank The company has tied up with various leading banks in the country for the payment option. These reportedly include State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank.
5. Got Indian government's permission in July 2017 The most-widely used messaging app in the country received Indian government's approval for UPI integration in July last year.
6. Security concerns need to be addressed before rollout A banking partner told ET that there are various security concerns that need to be addressed before the integration, especially with regard to customers' banking data. A senior banker told ET that to be able to send money as easily as a text message involves ensuring various levels of encryption to keep the data safe.
7. Rivals include Paytm, BHIM and Google Tez There's competition galore for WhatsApp in the space, with apps like Paytm, Google Tez and government's BHIM in the fray.
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