WhatsApp has been testing its UPI-based payments service, WhatsApp Payments, in India for a while now. The company has faced many hurdles in the past, however, it seems that the company is planning to launch its payments service in the country by the end of this year.
As per a report by The Economic Times, the company is gearing up to launch its payment services by the end of the year. “Our goal is to enable end-to-end communication cycle between small businesses and customers. Payment is just one more step in how businesses interact with users,” Abhijit Bose, head of WhatsApp India told the publication.
He further added that with WhatsApp Payments will help small businesses to complete their transactions more efficiently. WhatsApp for Business is already there for business to get in touch with its customers through the messenger. Previously, the company faced some hurdles for its upcoming service as the Indian government raised a couple of objections.
The government has asked for RBI’s views on whether payment solutions controlled remotely violate rules or not. The report says that the Indian government had conveyed this message to the Messaging app earlier this month when a WhatsApp executive met officials from the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY).
Meanwhile, WhatsApp brought fingerprint locking system through a beta update. The latest feature comes in the form of WhatsApp Beta version 2.19.221 on Android. After the update, a new Fingerprint Lock feature will be displayed inside WhatsApp > Settings > Account > Privacy. Fingerprint Lock will allow users to lock their chats and messages allowing them to be opened by registering their fingerprint on the phone.