WhatsApp set to roll out its payments option to 200 million Indians next week

acebook-owned WhatsApp launched its payments option-- WhatsApp Payment-- in India back in February this year. However, the option was available for select users only. And months after its official launch, the social messaging platform is all set to roll the feature to its users across the country.

According to a report by Bloomberg, WhatsApp will offer its payment service to all its users across the country as early as next week. The messaging app has partnered with HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank to roll out the service and foster cash transfer on its platform. The company will join hands with the State Bank of India once it has the necessary system in place to support transfers on WhatsApp.

The report further suggests that the social media giant was planning to roll out the service with all four partners on board. However, it decided to go ahead with just three in a bid to capture market share amid the stiffening competition by the rivals who are racing ahead.

The beta version of WhatsApp Payment, which launched earlier this year, had received great reviews from the critics who compared it with WeChat-- a popular messaging app in China which expanded its operations beyond messaging to introduce payments option in the country in August 2013.

By launching its payment option, WhatsApp will directly compete with the likes of the incumbent Google Tez, Alibaba-backed Paytm, Freecharge and MobiKwik-- all of which don't have the advantage that WhatsApp has i.e. a wide popularity owing to being a social messaging app.

While WhatsApp's payment feature might have received great reviews from the initial users,iit irked others. In fact, it was everely criticised by the founder of Paytm Bank, Vijay Shekhar, who compared the feature with "a closed garden". "After failing to win war against India's open internet with cheap tricks of free basics, Facebook is again in play. Killing beautiful open UPI system with its custom close garden implementation. I am surprised, champions of open @India_Stack , let it happen," he had said when Facebook had introduced the feature earlier this year.

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Shekar apart from accusing the company of trying enter the marker using unfair tricks had also raised concerns about the fact that WhatsApp Payment did not require the users to enter any login details, which made it a security risk.