India has lifted restrictions on WhatsApp's payment services, a major win for Meta by users in its biggest market as the social media giant looks to compete with stalwart fintech rivals.
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the payments agency that oversees the popular instant payments rail called UPI, announced on Tuesday that WhatsApp can now roll out WhatsApp Pay to all users in the market. WhatsApp has over 500 million users in India.
This decision removes the previous 100 million user cap on WhatsApp Pay. The move signals a shift in regulators' cautious approach to WhatsApp's payments ambitions.
NPCI, which reports to India's central bank, had previously advocated for a phased rollout, first capping the number of users of the service at 40 million in 2020, and then increasing the cap to 100 million in 2022. It was.
WhatsApp's expansion comes as India's UPI platform, which processes more than 13 billion transactions every month, grapples with market concentration concerns. PhonePe, backed by Google Pay and Walmart, currently manages over 85% of UPI transactions.
NPCI on Tuesday once again postponed its proposal to put a 30% cap on the share of individual apps in transactions on the UPI network. NPCI said the rule will not take effect for two years until December 31, 2026.
“We are committed to making payments on WhatsApp simple, reliable, and secure,” a WhatsApp spokesperson said in a statement sent to TechCrunch via the app.
“Our goal is to add value and convenience to the lives of our users through various use cases such as bill payments, ticket booking, shopping, etc. We are accelerating the adoption of digital payments and UPI. We aim to continue contributing to India's digital and financial inclusion challenges.”