Paytm To Launch Messaging Service To Rival WhatsApp

Alibaba-backed Paytm is set to launch a messaging service to take on its rival WhatsApp, as it looks to create one-stop platform for its users to transact and interact, two people familiar with the development told BloombergQuint.

Apart from buying flight tickets, book movie shows and paying utilities, users will soon be able to chat with each other using this service, one of the people said on condition of anonymity. The development was first reported by Wall Street Journal.

Paytm did not respond to an email seeking comment.

This comes at a time when Facebook’s WhatsApp is looking to foray into the digital payments space through a United Payments Interface-enabled payments system. The Facebook-owned chat application is only a few months away from completing necessary testing with the NPCI, BloombergQuint had reported earlier.

India is the largest market for WhatsApp with over 200 million monthly active users as of February 2017. Globally, one billion people use WhatsApp every day.

Recently home grown messaging service Hike too introduced Hike Wallet for money transfers.

In May, Paytm raised $1.4 billion from SoftBank in the largest funding round from a single investor for the country’s technology sector.

Also Read: Why Google, Facebook And WhatsApp Want To Join India’s Payments Revolution