WhatsApp Gets NPCI Nod To Expand UPI Service To 100 Million Users

WhatsApp has received the approval of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to enhance its user limit for digital payments via the United Payments Interface (UPI) to 100 million, reports Economic Times.

This is a two-and-a-half time jump from WhatsApp's previous user base limit of 40 million for which it received the NPCI nod back in November 2021.

The social messaging platform had sought approval for UPI payments for all its users in the country in one go without any cap. However, the NPCI reportedly granted it an increased limit of 100 million.

This development is slated to disrupt the prevalent market leadership of leading UPI applications like PhonePe and Google Pay as WhatsApp has a large user base of at least 400 million monthly active users for its messaging service.

WhatsApp went live in India after receiving NPCI approval for launching its digital payments service in November 2020. Initially, the NPCI allowed only 20 million of its over 400 million users to avail the service. Later in November 2021, WhatsApp was allowed to double its user base to 40 million.