WhatsApp Pay India launch: Global head gives a timeline for the roll-out

WhatsApp’s long-awaited payment service, WhatsApp Pay, will be available to all Indian users later this year. The UPI-based peer-to-peer service was first announced in February last year but has remained in a beta phase with limited availability since then.

Addressing an event in New Delhi, WhatsApp Global Head Will Cathcart said, “To boost digital inclusion in India, we can launch the (Pay) service across the country later this year after meeting regulations.”

The official rollout of WhatsApp’s payment service was stalled after the company failed to meet the local digital payments framework guidelines. WhatsApp, however, was allowed to run trials of the service with a limited number of users in India. In June last year, WhatsApp revealed that a million users in India were “testing” the payment service.