WhatsApp targets digital payments in India | WARC | The Feed

WhatsApp targets digital payments in India

WhatsApp, the messaging app, is going after the digital payments market in India and will use cash incentives to lure users to its service, according to reports.

Context

WhatsApp only recently won regulatory approval to more than double its payments offering to 100 million users in the country. Numbers have been capped amid fears of the strains that could be placed on the financial infrastructure if payments were made immediately available to all its half a billion users. The app’s own research, according to Reuters, indicates that “incentives are among the top sign up reasons for our competitor apps” in India.

What we know 

Citing sources, the Economic Times reports that:

• WhatsApp will, before the end of next month, launch a cashback offer of up to Rs 33 ($0.40) for transfers users make on its peer-to-peer payments service as part of a user acquisition drive.
• WhatsApp is also testing a programme where cashback incentives will be given to users who pay highway tolls and utility and other bills straight from the app.
• WhatsApp wants to test similar incentives for users making mobile payments for telecom operator Reliance Jio.

WhatsApp says

“[We are] running a campaign offering cashback incentives in a phased manner to our users as a way to unlock the potential of payments on WhatsApp.”

Sourced from Economic Times