The scenario in the Indian market as far as adoption of digital payments go can be divided neatly into two periods: Pre-Demonetization and Post-Demonetization. Before the controversial move by the Indian government, a normal day would involve very heavy usage of cash currency, supplemented by means like debit and credit cards and netbanking should the need and urgency arise. Cash was the de-facto king, and while the government did poke the population to move towards digital mediums of value exchange, there was not as much of an incentive to move away from cash anytime soon.
And then, the demonetization happened. We’ve discussed how India’s demonetization policy is affecting smartphones, carriers, and mobile payments, and within the article, we’ve touched upon how PayTM owes a large amount of its success to the government’s policies. Fast forward three months, PayTM is still going strong in the market with barely any worthy competitor in sight. But that could change soon if the latest job listing from WhatsApp is any indication.
Facebook’s WhatsApp is looking for a “Digital Transactions Lead” for India, whose primary responsibilities would involve operating and supporting digital transactions on the platform. These include providing customer support for inquiries on digital transactions, collaborating with banks to resolve issues, working with other teams supporting digital transactions on WhatsApp and helping scale global support for digital transactions on WhatsApp. The job listing also expects the candidate to have the ability to explain UPI, BHIM and Aadhaar.
Facebook’s intention is clear: it wants to harness the potential of the existing 200 Million WhatsApp users in the country by capitalizing on the present need of the economy. India is a ripe market to kick off an effort involving digital payments — the country still has needs for universally accepted payment mediums that can replace cash, and seeing how WhatsApp is many more degrees popular and universally-installed than PayTM, Facebook just might be onto something here.
What are your thoughts on WhatsApp’s future foray into the digital payments market? Can WhatsApp replace PayTM in India and be a worthy alternative to digital wallets like Android Pay and Samsung Pay? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Source: WhatsApp Via: Bloomberg
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