Pushing boundaries

Facebook tests the waters for a walled payments garden in India

WhatsApp’s newly launched payments feature in India is a joy to use. It is also a clear attempt to co-opt an open protocol. But are regulators realising this?

14/02/18

Arundhati Ramanathan

WhatsApp payments on iOS allows users to send payments only to users who have enabled payments

WhatsApp payments does not include a bunch of features that make up for key aspects of UPI

This could be Facebook’s way of co-opting UPI

Just two days before Google Tez’s launch NPCI brought in a circular that enabled only large companies to partner with multiple banks

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On 8 February, Facebook-owned WhatsApp quietly launched the much-anticipated feature in India—person to person payments. To almost universal rave reviews. (The Ken originally broke the news of this being in the works back in April 2017). Can’t get over how elegant @WhatsApp payments are. Stunning. And viral too. Have helped onboard 10 people at least…

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