BackWill WhatsApp charge you for sending money? Mark Zuckerberg replies
Now you can send money to your friends and family through WhatsApp as easily as sending a message, Zuckerberg saidThere's no fee, he said, adding that India is the first country to do anything like this
PremiumIn a video statement, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that WhatsApp won't charge any fee while a user sends money via the messaging app.
Zuckerberg's comments came after the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) allowed the Facebook-owned messaging app to go live on UPI in the multi-bank model.
The Facebook CEO said that it will be supported by over 140 banks.
"Now you can send money to your friends and family through WhatsApp as easily as sending a message. There's no fee, and it's supported by more than 140 banks. And because it's WhatsApp, it's secure and private too," Zuckerberg said.
However, for now, WhatsApp has partnered with five Indian banks -- ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, the State Bank of India, and Jio Payments Bank --for the service.
"We’re delighted to be working with five leading banks in India: ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, the State Bank of India, and Jio Payments Bank. People can send money on WhatsApp to anyone using a UPI supported app," WhatsApp said in a blog post.
Zuckerberg further went on to say that the payments will be available in 10 Indian regional language versions of WhatsApp. "All you need is a debit card with a bank that supports UPI and you can set it up straight away. You can find it in the latest version of WhatsApp," he added.
"We've been working on this with the National Payments Corporation of India, who oversee everything to make sure it's secure and reliable. And we've built it using India's Unified Payments Interface, which makes it easy for anyone to instantly accept payments across different apps -- and for companies to provide people with great services," he added.
"When people can access financial tools, they're more empowered to support themselves and others, or start a business. Long term, we need more innovation that gives people control over their money, and making payments easier is a small step that can really help," he said, adding that India is the first country to do anything like this.
While using WhatsApp for payments, the user will have to enter a personal UPI PIN for each transaction.
"Just like every feature in WhatsApp, payments is designed with a strong set of security and privacy principles, including entering a personal UPI PIN for each payment," WhatsApp said.
On Thursday, the NPCI had given nod to WhatsApp, saying that the messaging app can now expand its UPI user base in a graded manner starting with a maximum registered user base of 2 crore in UPI.
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