WhatsApp says hires former Amazon executive Mahatme to lead India payments

NEW DELHI: Facebook Inc-owned WhatsApp messenger said on Monday it was appointing a former Amazon executive as the head of payments in India as it looks to scale the service in its biggest market by users.

Manesh Mahatme, officially director WhatsApp payments – India, will help improve users’ payments experience and grow the business, WhatsApp said in a statement, confirming a Reuters newsbreak in March.

Mahatme was previously a senior executive at Amazon where he led the product and engineering teams for US online retailer’s payments business, Amazon Pay, in India. He also worked earlier with Citigroup and mobile carrier Bharti Airtel .