WhatsApps' payment service in India has got off to a sluggish start in the last few months, but is slowing gaining traction over payments apps. While several third-party apps on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) have a higher market share than WhatsApp, in just a few months it has beat several banking and third-party UPI apps that have been around for longer. According to data from the National Payments Corporation of India, WhatsApp Pay processed 5.6 million UPI transactions worth Rs 36.44 crore in January 2021, compared to 8.1 million UPI transactions worth Rs 29.72 crore in December 2020. The global messaging platform was allowed to commercially launch only in November last year, after two years of beta-testing. Between November and December, the volume of transactions grew by 161% while the value of transactions by 114%. However, between December 2020 and January 2021, the volume of transactions fell by 31% while the value of transactions grew by 22%. WhatsApp Pay's market share, however, has grown marginally from 0.0035% in November and 0.007% in December 2020, to 0.0085% as of January 2021. While MobiKwik, Samsung Pay, Ultra Cash, Freecharge, Cred and the NPCI's BHIM app each have a higher market share in UPI compared to WhatsApp Pay, other banking apps like Jio Payments Bank, Fino Payments Bank, RBL Bank, TrueCaller and Mi process far less transactions. WhatsApp Pay has a rank of 21 out of 56 third-party UPI apps, according to the NPCI. Factors behind delayed launch WhatsApp Pay's launch…
