WeChat is planning to launch WeChat pay, a UPI payment app in India. The report adds that the Chinese parent of WeChat, Tencent, has partnered with Axis Bank, HDFC, and ICICI and would like to create its own UPI handle.
However, in India, the app failed itself. Reports say that Wechat was unable to localize its product for the Indian market. During its launch in India in 2012, the app had good early transactions. WeChat was the first ever mobile application to launch a television ad in India. There was no expense spared. For 45 days, WeChat was the top-ranking app on the Google Play store.
However, like a roller coaster, the number of uninstalls increased. Soon, news reports suggested that the government could ban the app. This came as the beginning of the end for WeChat in India.
But it seems that the company is again up for its second kick-start in India. In India, WeChat Pay will compete with established digital wallets like Paytm, MobiKwik, and Google Pay, which is now testing offline retail payments, BHIM, and more. In India, Tencent’s investments are across the board, some of which include Dream11, Gaana, Ola, Byju’s, and Flipkart.
Interestingly, Chinese company Xiaomi launched Mi Pay, its UPI payment app, earlier this week.
WeChat Pay will be launched by the end of May-June. The company is registering an Indian entity for WeChat Pay, outlined as one of the internal sources at Tencent India.
