WhatsApp, the popular messaging app owned by Meta, announced on Wednesday that it will be expanding its payment options for users in India. The company will now allow in-app payments using credit cards, debit cards, and rival digital payment services within WhatsApp. This marks the latest move by WhatsApp to strengthen its commerce offerings in India, its biggest market with over 500 million users.
WhatsApp Looks to Ramp Up Commerce Amid Regulatory Limits
Up until now, WhatsApp’s payment service called WhatsApp Pay has been capped at 100 million users in India due to regulatory limits imposed by the country’s authorities. However, the newly added ability for users to pay directly via credit cards, debit cards, and even competing services like Google Pay, Paytm, and PhonePe opens up commerce potential for well over 400 million more WhatsApp users in the country.
Users can now conveniently pay businesses or make purchases without leaving the WhatsApp app, providing a seamless shopping experience. Rival services will be enabled using India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system. According to a company blog post, any approved payment service operating on UPI will now be available for payments within WhatsApp.
This move comes as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg aims to establish business messaging as a key pillar of the company’s growth. With Meta facing slowing ad revenue growth and heavy investment into its metaverse projects, there is pressure to find new streams of revenue. India presents a massive opportunity with 300 million people spending approximately $180 billion annually via UPI. Integrating rival payment services directly into WhatsApp shopping experiences could attract many more businesses to use WhatsApp for commerce.
New In-App Payment Tools Open to All Businesses Using WhatsApp Platform
Up until now, WhatsApp has only offered limited e-commerce functionalities in India through pilots with a few select partners like JioMart. Moving forward, the newly introduced in-app payment capabilities will be available to any company in India already using WhatsApp’s business platform. This mainly caters to larger enterprises currently, but opens up a huge potential for growth.
Small businesses have been able to use WhatsApp for customer communications through the WhatsApp Business app. However, the ability to now facilitate payments within WhatsApp itself provides an easy way for small businesses to harness commerce as well. WhatsApp Pay itself is still limited to 100 million users, but all businesses can access the new credit card, debit card, and UPI-based payment tools.
WhatsApp Verified Program Expands Globally for Businesses
In another move aimed at empowering businesses, Meta announced the global expansion of its WhatsApp Verified program. This subscription service lets companies get a verified badge to highlight the authenticity of their business on WhatsApp. According to the company, the program will launch on Facebook and Instagram as well before eventually expanding to WhatsApp.
The Verified subscription will cost $21.99 per month for each Facebook page or Instagram account. Businesses can also bundle verification for both platforms at $34.99 per month.
The program provides a way for businesses to distinguish themselves on social media and elevate their content in user feeds. As WhatsApp opens up commerce abilities for more companies, the Verified badge could help provide legitimacy and build trust with users.
WhatsApp Payments Part of Meta’s Global Messaging Commerce Strategy
The enhancements to payment abilities and verified badges on WhatsApp form a key part of Meta’s global messaging commerce strategy. CEO Mark Zuckerberg emphasized the importance of business messaging as a growth driver during recent earnings calls.
India is a prime market for messaging commerce expansion given its 1.4 billion population, rapidly growing mobile internet adoption, and huge youth demographic. Payments are a crucial part of the messaging commerce ecosystem. Integrating popular payment platforms like Google Pay and PhonePe direclty into the WhatsApp user experience provides a seamless way for businesses to facilitate transactions.
According to a report by Global Data, the messaging commerce market in India is projected to reach $15.7 billion in 2024, up from $2.8 billion in 2019. WhatsApp is positioning itself to capture this rapid growth in collaboration with partners like JioMart, a grocery delivery service.
The ability to communicate with customers, showcase products, facilitate orders and accept payments all within WhatsApp provides a compelling proposition. And the Verified program lets businesses establish credibility as more commerce shifts to messaging platforms.
Key Takeaways
- WhatsApp is expanding in-app payment options for users in India including credit cards, debit cards and rival digital payment services.
- This provides an integrated commerce experience and opens up payments to over 400 million more users in India beyond the 100 million cap on WhatsApp Pay.
- Companies using WhatsApp’s business platform can now easily accept in-app payments from customers.
- WhatsApp’s Verified program offers business subscription badges for legitimacy as commerce expands on the platform.
- Messaging commerce represents a key strategic focus for Meta as it looks to unlock new revenue streams globally.
- India is a prime market for Meta’s messaging commerce push given rapid digital transformation.
Final Thoughts
With intense competition in Indian digital payments space from the likes of Google Pay, Paytm and PhonePe, WhatsApp has its work cut out to gain significant traction. But the ability to offer integrated messaging, shopping and payments presents a unique value proposition.
As Meta explores ways to diversify revenue beyond ads, messaging commerce represents a massive longer-term opportunity. With over 2.5 billion users across WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram Direct globally, Meta’s messaging apps have truly global reach.
The moves in India represent an initial building block as Meta develops its commerce strategy. How well WhatsApp can execute on payments and shopping experiences with partners in India may ultimately determine the trajectory of Meta’s global messaging commerce ambitions.
