• By Vaamanaa Sethi
  • Wed, 20 Sep 2023 03:51 PM (IST)
  • Source:JND

Whatsapp announced on Wednesday that it plans to introduce credit card payments and integrate services from competing digital payment providers directly within its app in India. This move represents the latest strategic move by the Meta-owned platform to enhance its commerce offerings in its largest and most significant market.

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The instant messaging app, which has more than 500 users, said that people can now  also pay using popular services like Google Pay, Paytm and PhonePe but only after being redirected outside WhatsApp.

Payments via those rival services - and any others that run on India's instant money transfer system UPI - will now be possible directly within WhatsApp, Meta said in a blog post. New in-app options for credit and debit cards will also be offered.

The Meta-owned app further added that it had partnered with PayU and Razorpay to add support for payments via credit and debit cards, net banking and all UPI apps in India.

“This is going to make it even easier for people to pay Indian businesses within a WhatsApp chat using whatever method they prefer,” said Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Meta, in his virtual remarks at the company’s Conversations 2023 event in Mumbai.

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The app initially launched its payment services, based on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), in India in 2020 as part of a pilot program, which was subsequently extended to reach 100 million users last year.

According to media reports, the app continues to face a tough fight from the likes of Google Pay, Walmart-owned PhonePe and Indian fintech giant Paytm that are dominating the UPI ecosystem.