After two years of testing, WhatsApp payment service on Thursday, 5 November, received approval from National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to go live on Unified Payment Interface (UPI) in the multi-bank model. The announcement is expected to be a gamechanger for UPI users in the country and many Twitter users debated the same.
One of the prominent discussions on Twitter was how WhatsApp’s UPI could eat into the market share of the existing players. WhatsApp’s entry has long been feared by rivals like Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm and others as it can change industry dynamics. WhatsApp, which has 40 crore monthly active users in India, is expected to have exponential growth.
But there were other concerns too, specifically on the customer end. A Twitter user @idesibanda pointed out that in case of any fraud through UPI, there are limited options for the customers.
While another user wondered if a lack of cashback would affect WhatsApp. The cashback offers had helped the existing UPI operators to increase their market share over the last few years.
Entrepreneur Deepak Abbot pointed out that the market cap is applicable only to UPI operators other than Paytm.
Another user pointed out some of the immediate issues WhatsApp will have to address immediately.
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