National Payments Corporation of India, the nodal authority on all digital payments have revealed that Whatsapp payments is all set to roll out their services in 60 days. What has suddenly changed, especially since Whatsapp was not complying with the data localisation demands?
Meanwhile, NPCI has declared that India now has 100 million or 10 crore users who are now cashless.
Checkout more about Whatsapp payments, and digital revolution in India!
Whatsapp Payments Can Go Live In 60 Days
Whatsapp has agreed to store all their payments related data in India, and thus, they have agreed to the data localisation laws as demanded by Govt. of India.
The final procedures and steps are being taken to implement the same, and within 2 months, Whatsapp can roll out their hugely anticipated digital payments in India.
This has been confirmed by NPCI’s chief executive Dilip Asbe, as he said, “We believe WhatsApp will be fully compliant in the next two months’ time,”
Since 2018, news and rumours about Whatsapp payments have continued to stir India.
However, Indian Govt. wanted Whatsapp to store all their financial data in India, and this was initially not agreed by Facebook.
Questions were raised against the nexus between Facebook and Whatsapp, and the issue of Indian’s data.
Since Whatsapp payment will be 100% UPI based, Govt wanted complete safety and security of Indian’s data, and their stand was clear: If Whatsapp payment or any other payment firmcomes to India, then the data has to be stored locally, and all data from foreign servers should be deleted within 24 hours.
Now, it seems that that this demand and requirement has been fulfilled by Whatsapp, and its just a matter of time before Whatsapp payment rolls out.
Note here, that Whatsapp Payment is in beta stage as of now, and 1 million users are already accessing this feature as part of testing.
Asbe, which is a third-party audit by a firm empaneled by the RBI, is right now reviewing the data localisation norms implemented by Whatsapp.
10 Crore Indians Are Now Cashless
As per NPCI’s latest data, 100 million Indians have now adopted to the concept of digital payments, and these 100 million or 10 crore Indians are regularly using digital transactions, and choose to be cashless.
However, in order to make a real dent in the cash-furled Indian economy, NPCI says that atleast 30 crore Indians should be cashless.
Since the majority of cash-transactions are below Rs 500, UPI based payment platforms such as Whatsapp Payments, Google Pay, Paytm etc can be instrumental in encouraging such digital payments, and reduce cash from the market.
Companies like Xiaomi, Amazon Pay and Truecaller too wish to launch their UPI based payment apps, but again, data localisation has been the primary roadblock.
Now, since Whatsapp has agreed to this clause, we hope that other companies such as Xiaomi, Amazon Pay and Truecaller will also start storing data locally, and unleash a new wave of digital revolution.
Stay tuned, as we will keep you updated with more information about Whatsapp payments, and cashless economy in India.
Also Read: WhatsApp Payments Vs Google Tez Vs PhonePe Vs Paytm Vs BHIM – Who’s The Winner?