WhatsApp Pay, India head Manesh Mahatme Quits, Rejoins Amazon Pay

Meta's digital payments arm WhatsApp Pay India's head Manesh Mahatme has quit the company after a stint of one-and-a-half years, according to an update on his LinkedIn profile. As per industry sources, Mahatme has rejoined his previous employer Amazon Pay. Mahatme had joined WhatsApp Pay in April last year. When contacted, a Meta spokesperson said "Manesh has played an important role in expanding the access to 'payments on WhatsApp' in India, and we wish him every success for his future endeavours."

"Payments on WhatsApp is a priority for Meta and we will continue to innovate and drive momentum as part of our broader efforts to bring the 'next 500 million Indians' onto the digital payments' ecosystem," the spokesperson added. An e-mail query sent to Amazon did not elicit any response. Before joining WhatsApp Pay, Mahatme was director and board member at Amazon Pay India.

Meta-owned WhatsApp was given permission by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to start payment services in the country in November 2020 with a cap of 20 million users. NPCI had in April allowed WhatsApp to expand its payment services to 100 million users. WhatsApp Pay had facilitated 6.72 million transactions worth Rs 567.17 crore in August, as per NPCI.

(PTI)