Meta’s instant messaging platform WhatsApp has announced that it is now going to show the user’s legal names for every transaction that they make on WhatsApp Pay. According to the company, it is its UPI-based service.
The name that the company is going to show will be the same name as the user’s bank account. According to a WhatsApp FAQ post, the precondition is put off by NPCI and aimed at reducing fraud over the UPI payments system.
WhatsApp stated in an FAQ,
“WhatsApp uses the phone number associated with your account to identify your bank account through UPI. The name associated with your bank account is the name that will be shared.”
WhatsApp tells about this change by sending a notification to its users with a link to an FAQ page. The FAQ page describes the legal name condition. It is important to mention that WhatsApp users have the option to select any name with a limit of 25 characters to utilize that name on the application. A number of users even utilize emojis as their legal names.
Moreover, to extend its user base on WhatsApp Pay to 100 million from 40 million, WhatsApp took this decision after getting clearance from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). WhatsApp got a certain doorway to begin creating products and marketing the service to customers.
Due to NPCI clearance, the instant messaging platform is going to be able to add 60 million users to its UPI service and undertake payment giant opponents, including Walmart-backed PhonePe and Google Pay, which control most of the transactions that come across UPI. Nevertheless, the NPCI has made sure that the company’s capability to distort the level-playing field is restricted, considering WhatsApp has approximately 500 million users. Allowing it to provide UPI service to users worldwide could immediately influence rivalry.
