The gradual rollout gives users access to tens of thousands of billers, advancing Meta’s bid to make WhatsApp a hub for payments and everyday services.
WhatsApp is steadily moving beyond instant messaging in India, where it is already used for much more than chatting. Meta has been adding payment, shopping and service tools that let users handle everyday tasks without leaving the app, a shift that pushes the platform closer to the so-called super app model seen elsewhere in Asia. According to Meta’s announcement, the latest step is bill payments through Bharat Connect, giving users access to tens of thousands of billers across categories ranging from electricity and water to insurance, credit cards and loan repayments.
The new bill-pay function is being rolled out gradually to Android and iPhone users in India. Meta said people can select a biller, verify the account details, check the amount due and settle it using UPI, debit cards or credit cards. The company also said users will be able to review past payments, see upcoming bills and manage more than one account with the same provider. Arun Srinivas, Meta’s India head, said the aim is to make paying a bill on WhatsApp as simple as sending a message, while extending digital payments to remote parts of the country.
That expansion fits into a broader push by Meta to turn WhatsApp into a place where discovery, conversation and purchase happen in the same thread. In a white paper produced with the Retailers Association of India, Meta said 72 per cent of product discovery in India now happens on WhatsApp. The company has also promoted tools that allow customers to browse catalogues, ask questions and buy directly inside a business chat, reinforcing WhatsApp’s role as a commercial channel as much as a messaging service. Previous additions have included money transfers, prepaid mobile recharges, metro ticket booking and access to some government services.
Meta’s ambitions in India appear to be growing more deliberate. TechCrunch reported in June that the company brought in CRED founder Kunal Shah to lead WhatsApp, a move widely read as part of a broader effort to accelerate payments and business services on the platform. The appointment came as Meta continues to look for ways to convert WhatsApp’s enormous audience into active payment users. With more than 530 million messaging users in India, the app has scale, but it still trails Google Pay and PhonePe in UPI, the country’s dominant real-time payments system.
That gap remains the main obstacle to WhatsApp’s transformation. TechCrunch reported in April that the app processed more than 130 million UPI transactions in March, a large number by any ordinary measure, but still far behind the biggest competitors. Trust, reliability and a smooth experience will matter as much as sheer user numbers if WhatsApp is to become the payment destination Meta wants. The comparison that often comes up is Tencent’s WeChat, which has evolved into a broader mobile ecosystem in China, combining messaging with payments, services and commerce. WhatsApp is not there yet, but in India the direction of travel is becoming clearer.
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