WhatsApp digital payments to empower 500 villages: Know all details

Technology can be a boon as well as bane for society. But WhatsApp ensured to let its services work as a boon, as it announced its pilot program ‘Digital Payments Utsav’ of adopting 500 villages across Karnataka and Maharashtra aiming to empower villagers with access to digital payments through instant messaging platforms’ payments on WhatsApp. The initiative will ensure to include the people from the bottom of the pyramid in the digital payments ecosystem and promote the use of UPI across all users.

“We will continue to contribute meaningfully in this journey of educating users at the grassroots, so they can trust digital payments, as they gradually make the transition from a ‘cash-only’ way of financial life,” Abhijit Bose, Head of India, WhatsApp, said. The announcement was made at Fuel For India 2021 - Meta’s annual event in India, that showcases positive impact and socio-economic transformation delivered by its family of apps.

About the WhatsApp’s pilot program

The ‘Digital Payments Utsav’ program was started on October 15, 2021 in Kyathanahalli village in Mandya district of Karnataka. The aim was to make villagers familiarised with the various aspects of digital payments and procedure such as signing up for UPI, setting up a new UPI account and safety practices while using digital payments.

Result? Surprisingly, villagers have begun adopting ‘payments on WhatsApp’ as a new mode of payments for the daily payment purposes such as the village-grocery store or the beauty-parlour owner. WhatsApp's implementation partner, 1Bridge, is running the trial programme on the ground. Payments on WhatsApp is an important partner for the NPCI and RBI in achieving their common goal of maximising the use of UPI and promoting financial inclusion for those who need it the most.

WhatsApp features contribution in the program

To accelerate and achieve the aim of the pilot program, WhatsApp has included the symbol of Rupees ( ₹) in its chat composer, making it instantly recognizable and accessible to people from all walks of life who want to use its digital payments tool. Furthermore, WhatsApp has included a function to its main camera to scan QR codes, offering ease for WhatsApp payment users to access the country's 20 million QR-accepting stores. In the coming time, it seems that the Meta-owned messaging app will be one of the key digital payment tools due to its accessibility across the wider audience.