whatsapp pay: WhatsApp can offer UPI services to 100 million users

Bengaluru: The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has allowed messaging platform WhatsApp to increase its user limit for digital payments through UPI (Unified Payments Interface) to 100 million, a two and a half times jump from the earlier cap of 40 million, said people aware of the matter.

In November last year, the NPCI had allowed WhatsApp Pay to
double its user base from the previous limit of 20 million.

WhatsApp had sought permission for UPI payments for all its users in India in one go without any cap. However, the NPCI has granted it an increased limit of 100 million, said the people.

While NPCI confirmed the development in a late night statement on Wednesday, a spokesperson for WhatsApp Pay did not immediately respond to ET’s queries.

A spokesperson of WhatsApp Pay did not immediately respond to ET’s queries.

The increase in WhatsApp Pay’s user base is likely to disrupt the current market leadership of leading UPI apps such as PhonePe and Google Pay. It comes at a time when Tata Digital has also made its debut on UPI and is expected to emerge as a significant player.

While new entrants are expected to make a dent in the UPI market share dynamics, industry executives said WhatsApp has the best chance to shake the market given its large user base of at least 400 million monthly active users for its messaging service.

With the increased limit, the much-debated market share cap issue of UPI will be put to test.

The NPCI has mandated that no one player can process more than 30% of the total transaction volumes of UPI during a three-month period. However, existing players such as PhonePe and Google Pay were given time until the end of 2022 to comply with the order.

Walmart and Flipkart-owned PhonePe’s CEO Sameer Nigam had told ET in September last year that he wasn’t worried about the market share cap. He had said that he was complying with all the rules and there was little he could do to reduce his platform’s market share. “I would like to believe that this is now user preference starting to play out based on success rate (of transactions) and acceptance,” he had said.

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