India’s mobile payment segment is set to add another player in the coming months, with China’s Tencent reportedly planning to launch its WeChat Pay in the country. The payment player will rival existing options like Google Pay and, of course, Paytm, which is the leading mobile payment player in the market.
The news of WeChat Pay entering India has been reported by news portal Entrackr and it’s the second major messaging platform after WhatsApp to enter India’s payment space.
It’s likely that WeChat will tie up with one of the major Indian banks to get its business going, and sign up for the country’s Unified Payment Interface (UPI) to make payments available to mobile users.
The report, quoting multiple sources from National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) says that Tencent officials have met with the payment body to obtain a full-fledged payment license in India.
Tencent, better known for its PUBG Mobile multiplayer game in the country, wants WeChat Pay to join the ranks of Xiaomi’s Mi Pay and Google Pay among others and make hay in the ever-growing mobile payment segment in India.
The report suggests that WeChat will launch with three Indian banks; ICICI, HDFC and Axis, using its own @wechat UPI handle and make the app available by end of June.
According to latest NPCI data, more than 672.8 million UPI transactions were done in January 2019, with Rs 109,932 crore being transacted. Out of this, Paytm leads the UPI segment, followed by PhonePe and Google Pay.
The company has been already garnering user data and as they use the internet to purchase items seamlessly via mobile. Paytm’s success in the UPI space is a good ready-reckoner for them to start of with.
It wouldn’t be far-fetched to assume that Tencent might use WeChat Pay as its default payment option for PUBG Mobile in-app purchases. In addition to that, WeChat Pay also caters to QR Code based payment and terminal services as well.
UPI has been the go-to payment platform for major brands these days. You have Amazon, Xiaomi, Google, even Alibaba via Paytm. Then you have Reliance Jio entering the fray and now Tencent with WeChat. The Chinese giant will be hoping for better fortunes with WeChat Pay than its messaging platform in the country.
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