400 million Indians now on WhatsApp, bad news for Paytm
1 min read 26 Jul 2019, 09:07 PM ISTNiti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant tweeted WhatsApp had an average user age of 29 and almost 400 million users; WhatsApp didn't dispute the figuresWhatsApp had 200 million active users in India in 2017
Premium
New Delhi: Facebook-owned WhatsApp which is planning to launch its peer-to-peer, UPI-based Pay service in India later this year has nearly 400 million users in the country — a bad news for digital payments leader Paytm which last reported 230 million users.
"With a billion mobiles, lowest data costs, highest mobile data consumption, average age of 29 and almost 400 million users, the future of WhatsApp is obviously in India," tweeted Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant.
WhatsApp did not dispute the figure cited by the Niti Aayog CEO, suggesting that the instant messaging platform has added 200 million users in the country in the past two years.
WhatsApp had 200 million active users in India in 2017.
The company launched a test run of its payments service with one million users in the country last year which got stuck in the digital payments framework guidelines but now, the service is in the final stages.
Also Read | WhatsApp to roll out payments feature in India this year
"To boost digital inclusion in India, we can launch the (Pay) service across the country later this year after meeting regulations," Cathcart told the audience at an event on Thursday.
The country's digital payments industry is estimated to hit $1 trillion by 2023.
"Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels 🚀 Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!" Click here!
This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.
