WhatsApp Looks To Improve Access To Financial Products On Its App

On Wednesday, WhatsApp India head Abhijit Bose said that it will work with partners like banks and financial institutions in India to make it easier for people to access products such as insurance, microcredit and pension.

The instant messaging app will also support multiple pilots to test potential solutions to solve problems related to the distribution of financial products, Bose said at the Global Fintech Fest.

The Facebook-owned company has been working for more than a year with banking partners to see how it can supplement their digital presence and accelerate the pace of financial access across segments and geographies in the country, especially to the rural and lower-income segments, Bose said.

Bose said the collective aim over the next 2-3 years is to be able to help low wage workers in the unorganised informal economy to easily access three products- insurance, microcredit and pension.

WhatsApp had started testing its UPI-based payments service - WhatsApp Pay - in India in 2018. The facility was to allow users to utilise the messaging platform to send and receive money.

The full-scale national launch of WhatsApp Pay did not happen in India over regulatory issues.

With over 400 million users, India is among the biggest markets for WhatsApp.