Facebook Owned WhatsApp Looking to Launch Mobile Payment Service in Indonesia
Over the past few years, it has become abundantly clear that mobile payments are going to be the next big thing in the world of Fintech and some of the biggest companies in the world are now trying to get into it in a big way. It needs to be kept in mind that mobile payments are faster and cheaper, and millions of people are now ready to try out new ways of making payments. In a new development, it has now emerged that Facebook-owned messaging service WhatsApp is now exploring the possibility of launching its own mobile payment service for its users in Indonesia. According to an exclusive report by a leading news agency, WhatsApp is currently in talks with a variety of digital payment companies in Indonesia.
WhatsApp wishes to provide the mobile transaction services that it has created to these payment companies so that the company can tap into the immense potential of the e-commerce boom in the country. The entry into payments has been mulled by the company for a long time, and currently, its payment service is awaiting regulatory clearance in India. Due to the sheer number of WhatsApp, it gives the company ready access to a captive user base, and that could prove to be the biggest advantage that the company enjoys over many other mobile payment service providers.
WhatsApp wants to provide a full-fledged payment service, which could also allow peer to peer money transfer. However, the company is not going to go on that path in Indonesia due to the prevailing regulatory climate in the country. Instead, WhatsApp will act as a payment platform and allow users to make their payments with ease. Indonesia is one of the largest economies in Asia, and from out of its 260 million population, 100 million are WhatsApp. Hence, the potential customer base could be huge for WhatsApp’s mobile payment service once it is launched. The launch of the service in Indonesia could well be a test case for WhatsApp to gauge the possibilities of the service. Eventually, it will take the service to other countries in the world. A spokesperson for Facebook stated,
WhatsApp is in conversations with financial partners in Indonesia about payments. However, the discussions are in early stages, and we do not have anything further to share at this stage.
