The Unified Payment Interface (UPI) which was launched in 2016 has been rapidly gaining ground in the Indian digital payment space. Last December it reached the historic mark of monthly transaction of worth ₹1 Billion.
This rapid growth has induced several companies like Google Pay, Amazon Pay, PhonePe and other to capitalize on the growing digital payment market. Seeing the potential growth, now Chinese messaging app- WeChat is likely to be the new entrant in the booming Indian Digital payment space.
Although, WeChat, the messaging app has been active in India from long but as per National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) sources, some representatives from WeChat have recently met NPCI officials, seeking permission for a full fledged UPI enabled payment app.
As per sources, like other applications the new WeChat app will work using UPI ecosystem and will be named as “WeChat Pay”. The app can enter the digital space in May or June. For this has Tencent already partnered with three Indian lenders – Axis Bank, HDFC and ICICI. It wants to have its own UPI handle (@wechat), said sources.
WeChat has been trying to gain some ground in the Indian digital space. Its a key player in China and is the second most popular payment app following Alipay. Last year it crossed more active users than Alipay’s 520 million in early 2018. While popularity of Ten Pay is largely driven by WeChat’s 1 billion plus DAUs (Daily Active Users), it’s not the case in India. Tencent has invested heavily for WeChat (India) but all that didn’t bear any fruits as the messaging app didn’t receive much success in India.
Now, once again riding on its rising popularity in India owing to its popular game-PUBG, Chinese conglomerate is once again considering to bet on booming Indian digital payment space.