Report, WhatsApp may be launched in India by the end of May

WhatsApp Pay looks set to launch by the end of the month. According to a report, the payment service through the instant messaging app, which is currently live under beta testing, will soon be launched in partnership with three private banks – Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank and will later include public sector banks. State Bank of India (SBI) will also be added. Currently in beta testing phase, WhatsApp Pay allows transactions based on Unified Payment Interface (UPI) through ICICI Bank.

Moneycontrol’s Report Citing some sources having knowledge of this news, it has been claimed that the process of integration of Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and SBI in WhatsApp is going on. However, it has been said that initially WhatsApp Pay service will be started with three private banks out of the above mentioned banks and later SBI will be added to it.

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) recently made it mandatory for large digital platforms offering UPI-based payment services to opt for a multi-bank model to avoid any delay in transactions. If a bank is facing any problem in allowing payments, then this multi-bank model proves helpful. The drawbacks of using the single-bank model came to light during Yes Bank’s moratorium earlier this year, which halted the operations of platforms like PhonePe and Swiggy for some time during that time.

Google Pay and Truecaller are among the major platforms that currently allow transactions through multiple banks. Interestingly, Google Pay already has Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI and SBI as acquiring banks, enabling UPI-based transactions.