WhatsApp to launch 'full-feature' inter-bank money transfer service soon says NPCI with four banks handling UPI to process fund transfers

WhatsApp will launch a “full feature” inter-bank money transfer service in India, its biggest market, after a test involving a million users, **National Payments Corp of India** said. [caption id=“attachment_4131249” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] WhatsApp app logo. Reuters.[/caption] Friday’s statement marks the de facto official launch of **WhatsApp’s** new service as NPCI is the body set up by the central bank and lenders to oversee payment services. WhatsApp launched a **limited service in India** , where it has more than 200 million users, last week. This uses customers’ phone numbers linked to bank accounts to facilitate payments and marks the first global foray into money transfers by the Facebook-owned firm. Four banks will join United Payments Interface (UPI) — which powers the payments service — for WhatsApp, NPCI said. At present, India’s third-biggest lender ICICI Bank processes the fund transfers on WhatsApp, the application shows. WhatsApp’s popularity in India is likely to pose a threat to established players, but it is entering a competitive market after Alphabet Inc’s Google launched a payments app last year to compete with local players. (Also Read:  **Paytm vs FreeCharge vs MobiKwik vs Google Tez vs others: Here's a look at the existing digital wallets ecosystem** ) The country’s cashless economy got a boost after Prime Minister Narendra Modi banned old high-value currency notes in late 2016, leading to a surge in online payment providers such as homegrown player **Paytm** , the biggest in India. Paytm, which is backed by Alibaba and SoftBank **expressed concerns about the security of WhatsApp’s new payments service** in a statement released on Friday.