In India push, WhatsApp plans cashback for peer transfers, merchant payment
WhatsApp will
within weeks roll out cashback rewards to lure more Indians to its peer-to-peer
payments service and is testing similar incentives for merchant payments, two
sources said, as the company seeks to compete with rivals including Google.
The latest move comes days after WhatsApp won
regulatory approval to more than double its payments offering to 100 million
users in India, its biggest market with more than half a billion users overall.
WhatsApp will
before the end of May launch the cashback offer of up to 33 Indian rupees
($0.40) for transfers users make on its payments service, which allows contacts
to send each other funds from within the messenger app, said the sources, who
have direct knowledge of the company's plans.
The incentive, spread over three transactions, will be given
irrespective of the amount being transferred, even if it is as little as 1
Indian rupee, in what one source described as WhatsApp's "user acquisition
drive."
The WhatsApp cashback amount may appear small, but Neil Shah, vice
president of research at Counterpoint Research, said it would be a
"compelling enough" reason for users to switch.
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