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November 26, 20216:23 PM UTCLast Updated ago
India

WhatsApp wins approval to double payments offering to 40 mln users in
India -source

By Aditya Kalra

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2 minute read
A man walks past a hoarding of the WhatsApp application installed at
a skywalk in Mumbai, India, August 26, 2021. REUTERS/Francis
Mascarenhas/Files

A man walks past a hoarding of the WhatsApp application installed at
a skywalk in Mumbai, India, August 26, 2021. REUTERS/Francis
Mascarenhas/Files

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NEW DELHI, Nov 26 (Reuters) - WhatsApp (FB.O) has won regulatory
approval to double the number of users on its payments service in
India to 40 million, a source with direct knowledge told Reuters on
Friday.

The company had requested that there should be no cap on users of its
payment service in India.

Instead, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)this week
told the company it could double the user base to which it can offer
its payment service - currently restricted to 20 million - the source
said.

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WhatsApp is owned by Facebook, which recently changed its name to
Meta.

The source said the new cap would still hinder the company's growth
prospects given that WhatsApp's messenger service has more than 500
million users in India, the company's biggest market.

It was not clear when the new cap would come into effect.

WhatsApp did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while
the NPCI declined to comment.

WhatsApp competes with Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google Pay, SoftBank-
and Ant Group-backed Paytm (PAYT.NS) and Walmart's (WMT.N) PhonePe in
India's crowded digital market.

The NPCI gave WhatsApp approval to start its payments service last
year after the company spent years trying to comply with Indian
regulations, including data storage norms that require all
payments-related data to be stored locally.

WhatsApp has almost reached its user base of 20 million for payment
services, said the source, who declined to be identified as the
details are private.

Online transactions, lending and e-wallet services have been growing
rapidly in India, led by a government push to make the country's
cash-loving merchants and consumers adopt digital payments.

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Reporting by Aditya Kalra; Editing by Susan Fenton

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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