Early last year, we heard the first reports of WhatsApp coming up with a payment service. New reports now indicate that the service, dubbed WhatsApp Pay, will be made available later this year. That said, it only applies to India, the country where the Facebook subsidiary has been testing the service.
According to Business Today, WhatsApp aims to make sending money as easy as sending messages. Will Cathcart, global head of WhatsApp, said that the rollout of the payment service in other markets is being looked at.
The rollout of WhatsApp Pay has been in the works since May. The company then told the Indian Supreme Court that it’s trial run will likely be completed by July. And in October last year, it reportedly developed a system to store payments-related data in the country. This is to comply with policies set by the Reserve bank of India.
There are over 1.5 billion WhatsApp users worldwide, and 400 million of them are in India. With that, it’s obvious as to why the company decided to launch its service there before anywhere else. That said, beyond being looked at, there’s no word on when it will be available in other markets.
(Source: Business Today via CNET)
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