WhatsApp Pay to be rolled out next week all over India

Facebook is now ready to offer WhatsApp payments service to every part of India by next week, reports said on Tuesday. The app is partnering with HDFC, ICICI, Axis bank for transactions. 

As per reports, the State Bank of India will also join once the right systems are installed. 

The decision behind the early rollout is due to its competition racing ahead. Some have likened it to WeChat, which launched payment service in China other than messaging. 

The pilot version of WhatsApp Pay — started with 1 million users in February — received rave reviews, threatening the market share of incumbents Google Tez and Alibaba-backed Paytm, which lack the benefits of a social network.

In March this year, Android users were able to link their bank account to their WhatsApp and facilitate online payments. Android beta users had the WhatsApp Payments option that could be enabled. 

The Facebook-owned instant messaging application first launched its payment service option in February this year for select Android and iPhone devices.  

More than 200 million Indians already use WhatsApp messaging, equivalent to 60 percent of the U.S. population and a daily active usage that Forrester Inc. estimates to be about 20 times higher than Paytm’s.