WhatsApp Payments Gets Support From SBI, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank & Axis Bank to serve UPI customers across India WhatsApp Payments currently is allowed to serve upto 20 million users
By Debarghya Sil •
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After getting a nod from National Payments Corporation of India for payments feature in India, Facebook-owned WhatsApp on Wednesday announced that its "WhatsApp's Payments' feature will now be available to users across the country (currently up to 20 million users) with support from banking partners such as State Bank of India, HDFC, ICICI and Axis Bank.
The most popular messenger last month went live with payments feature on a peer to peer (P2P) basis thus allowing its users to transfer money through the same app. The company claims that its payments feature will add impetus to the growth of digital transactions in India.
Speaking about WhatsApp Payments' teaming up with multiple banks, Abhijit Bose, head of WhatsApp, India said, "We're excited and privileged to partner with State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and AXIS Bank to bring simple and secure digital payments to WhatsApp users across India. UPI is a transformative service and we jointly have the opportunity to bring the benefits of our digital economy and financial inclusion to a large number of users who have not had full access to them before."
State Bank of India (SBI) is the country's largest commercial bank that serves over 45 crore customers. With over 120 million UPI users, the Bank commands a 28% market share as a Remitter Bank, highest in the UPI ecosystem.
Bijith Bhaskar who leads the digital channels and partnership of ICICI Bank said that this initiative has helped their customer bank conveniently and remotely without visiting the branch during the pandemic. He said that in a short period of time they have received encouraging responses and claimed that over two million users have adopted banking services on WhatsApp in this short period.
Parag Rao, country head - payments business, consumer finance, digital banking & marketing, HDFC Bank said these partnerships will further fuel the economic growth and development of the Nation.
"We, at the Bank, stand committed towards creating the necessary railroads to enable convenient access to financial products and services across the length and breadth of the country," he added.
