WhatsApp can now offer UPI services to all Indian users
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has lifted the user onboarding cap on WhatsApp Payments. The decision lifts the previous 100 million user cap. WhatsApp can now offer its Unified Payments Interface (UPI) services to its entire user base in India. To note, NPCI's earlier step was aimed at ensuring a gradual rollout and keeping a check on scalability, performance, and security issues in the sensitive payments ecosystem.
Phased increase in user limit
The NPCI took a cautious approach to avoid risks of adding a huge user base in one go, and to give WhatsApp time to fine-tune its operations. Gradually, NPCI raised the limit in phases. In November 2022, WhatsApp Payment's cap was raised to 100 million users. The removal of this onboarding limit is a major milestone for WhatsApp, permitting it to expand its payments facility to its massive user base in India, which exceeds 500 million users.
NPCI extends market cap deadline by 2 years
Along with lifting user onboarding cap, NPCI has also extended the market cap deadline by another two years. In a circular dated today it said, "Considering various factors, the timeline for compliance of existing TPAPs who are exceeding the volume cap, is extended by two years i.e. til December 31, 2026." NPCI had first introduced this rule in early 2021 to prevent any single UPI app from dominating more than 30% of the UPI payments market.
WhatsApp Payments's expansion challenges market leaders
India's UPI platform handles over 13 billion transactions every month, with Google Pay and PhonePe dominating 85% of the market. The growth of WhatsApp Payments presents a challenge to these market leaders, supported by its massive user base and seamless integration with the messaging app.
