Last month we saw the launch of WhatsApp Pay in India. And though many were skeptical about the release of UPI services by a social media app, the app still managed to garner many users. Though the app still managed to get some users on its transaction platform, the number of transactions it processed is relatively less, considering WhatsApp’s popularity.
According to sources, WhatsApp Pay only managed to have 310,000 unified payments interface transactions in November. The numbers are provided by the National Payments Corp. of India (NPCI) and are legit. But analysts claim that WhatsApp Pay is backed by none other than the social media giant Facebook. It won’t take much time for WhatsApp Pay to come up with attractive cashback offers to attract the Indian fan-base.
One of the reasons why the service saw a limited number of transactions in November is that the service was not available to every Indian user on time. Reports estimate that over 400 million users of WhatsApp were not able to receive the payment service access.
“Many users still do not know that WhatsApp has payments capability. As users start interacting with businesses, and when businesses start sending payment requests via UPI, gradually, we will see transactions grow on WhatsApp too.”
The users who have used WhatsApp Pay has had a unique experience. The interface is the best we have ever seen in any payment service app, and the best thing is that it is integrated into a chat window. However, analysts suggest that the payment being incorporated as a feature of the app gives WhatsApp edge over others.
“Many merchants are already using WhatsApp from a transaction point of view for sharing product photos and videos with customers. The payment in such cases is made through third-party apps like Paytm.”
