India leading the world in terms of how people and businesses embrace messaging: Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg

Meta is aggressively looking to monetise messaging platform WhatsApp in India, its biggest market with over 500 million users. At Meta’s Conversations event at the Jio Convention Centre in Mumbai on Wednesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg launched new product features on WhatsApp Business to enhance business messaging. “India is leading the world in terms of how people and businesses embrace messaging, a better way to get things done,” he said. 

Meta is partnering with fintech companies like Razorpay and PayU to enable users to purchase directly from businesses within the app and enable businesses to create customised experiences for customers through WhatsApp Flows. “We’re going to support other payment methods as well, including all UPI apps. This is gonna make it even easier for people to pay in businesses within WhatsApp chat using whatever method they prefer,” he adds. 

According to the company, WhatsApp Flows will enable businesses in creating customised chat windows for businesses based on the services they offer. “This new feature will be much faster and more convenient for customers to shop than having to jump between apps or websites,” Zuckerberg adds. 

Meta also announced an expansion in its paid verification programme Meta Verified to businesses in India. It will soon start testing Meta Verified with small businesses using the WhatsApp Business app before rolling out to businesses on the WhatsApp Business Platform. “It will help assure consumers that they are interacting with validated and authentic businesses,” he adds. 

According to Meta India’s Vice President and Managing Director Sandhya Devanathan, the company plans to upskill about 10 million Indian traders using WhatsApp Business features in the next 3 years, across 29 states and 11 languages. 

Also Read: WhatsApp users in India can now pay using UPI apps like Gpay, Paytm and credit, debit cards