Facebook-owned WhatsApp is working on launching person-to-person payment through Unified Payment Interface (UPI) on its platform within the next six months in India, reported The Ken.
According to an another report by Mashable India, WhatsApp is in talks with the Indian government to add support for UPI, which allows access to multiple bank accounts into a single mobile app to make digital payments.
The move come after Brian Acton, co-founder of the popular messaging app WhatsApp, called on IT minister Ravi Shnakar Prasad in late February, to discuss ways in which the firm could contribute to “India’s vision for digital commerce.”
At present, over 200 million people use WhatsApp across the country.
Acton said: "India is a very important country for us, and we're proud to have 200 million people who use WhatsApp to connect with their friends, family and communities.
“We build every WhatsApp feature to be simple, reliable, and secure, and this vision is in line with what Digital India promises to achieve.”
WhatsApp, which particularly does not own any team in the country, is looking to hire a “Digital Transactions Lead” to spearhead its digital transaction initiative in the country, according to Ken’s report.
With the kind of popularity WhatsApp has among the Indian citizens, the move to incorporate UPI mode in the messaging app is believed to push digital transaction to another level, especially after demonitisation.
