Highlights:
• WhatsApp announced to adopt 500 villages as a parth of pilot programme
• Key focus states under this project are Karnataka & Maharashtra
• Aim of this initiative is to make people ‘digital payment’ friendly
WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta, announced on 15th December that it will adopt 500 villages in Karnataka and Maharashtra as part of a pilot programme.
WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta, announced on 15th December that it will adopt 500 villages in Karnataka and Maharashtra as part of a pilot programme to provide people with access to digital payments via ‘payments on WhatsApp.’
Announcement
The statement was made at Meta’s annual event in India, Fuel For India 2021, which displays Meta’s family of apps’ beneficial impact and socio-economic development.
Aim of the initiative
The campaign attempts to change people’s attitudes on digital payments at the grassroots level, according to the business.
Bose statement & country’s financial growth
“WhatsApp is devoted to aiding within the acceleration of monetary inclusion within the country”. As part of our ambition to bring the next five hundred villages into the digital payments ecosystem, we’ve initiated a pilot programme in 500 villages throughout Karnataka and Maharashtra “WhatsApp’s Head of India, Abhijit Bose, said in a statement.
“We believe that WhatsApp’s simple use and reliability will facilitate customers in any respect levels, as well as those at very cheap of the pyramid, use UPI”. We will continue to make a significant contribution to this path of educating users at the grassroots level so that they can trust digital payments as they make the transition from a “cash-only” way of life to a “cash-free” way of life “Bose went on to say.
States in the focus area
The ‘Digital Payments Utsav’ trial began on October 15 in Kyathanahalli village in Karnataka’s Mandya district, where people were educated on several elements of digital payments, including how to sign up for UPI, how to set up a UPI account, and how to use digital payments safely.
Villagers adopted ‘payments on WhatsApp’ as a new means of payment, according to preliminary data from the trial programme.
Local survey says
According to the company, everyone from the local grocery store to the beauty parlour, as well as a slew of other individuals and small and medium businesses, are now collecting and receiving payments digitally via ‘payments on WhatsApp.’
“People don’t always want to drive all the way to the shop; instead, they send me a list and their location via WhatsApp, and I deliver their orders to them. They can also send me money over WhatsApp, which I can accept “Anil K.R, the proprietor of a chicken shop in Kyathanahalli, agreed.
Tactics used to promote digital payments
WhatsApp just added the rupee sign to its chat-composer to promote digital access.
Furthermore, WhatsApp has fitted its main camera to scan QR codes, providing another layer of ease for WhatsApp payment users by enabling access to the country’s 20 million QR-accepting establishments.
In order to accelerate the development and growth of India over the following six months, the business stated it will continue to invest heavily on ‘payments on WhatsApp.’
