WhatsApp, which has an estimated 1.5 billion users around the world, has
been roiled in controversy in India over data storage and privacy.
PHOTO | YASUYOSHI CHIBA | AFP
Messaging giant WhatsApp plans to launch its first payment
service this year in India, its biggest market with 400 million users,
the company said Friday.
The Facebook-owned firm has
tested the service with about one million people over the past year. But
a commercial launch has been on hold while it waits for approval from
India's banking regulator.
"WhatsApp Payments will make
it as easy to pay someone on WhatsApp as it is to send a message," the
company's global head Will Cathcart said in a statement.
"We can't wait to provide this service to our users across India this year," he added.
India
would be the first country to get WhatsApp payments, but Cathcart did
not say whether the authorities have given final approval.
He
said such services were critical to accelerating financial inclusion in
India and bringing millions more into the country's fast-growing
digital economy.
India is one of the world's quickest-growing major economies, with tens of millions already using online transactions.
Once
launched, WhatsApp will compete with local digital payment firms Paytm
and Phonepe and global behemoths like Amazon Pay and Google Pay.
WhatsApp,
which has an estimated 1.5 billion users around the world, has been
roiled in controversy in India over data storage and privacy.
India
has insisted that technology companies store data on Indians in the
country, something WhatsApp has resisted so far for its messaging
platform.
The Reserve Bank of India, that regulates the
country's financial system, has also made it mandatory to store
payment-related data in India.
WhatsApp has insisted that its payment services in India will comply with the central bank norms.
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