The report notes Tencent execs met with the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) three weeks ago to discuss obtaining a license, with plans to launch the service in May or June.
A payments analyst told TNW that WeChat might be burning cash early on to get insights into consumer behavior:
Firstly, third-party PSPs (Payments Service Providers) are in it for the data game. The commercials are always decided by banks and network (NPCI) and third parties have very little say in it. In fact, they would be burning cash to acquire data and have very little direct redemption opportunities in payments.
Tencent could also leverage the popularity of its Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) game by enabling in-app purchases with WeChat Pay.
It’s important to note that Tencent invested $175 million in 2016 in India-based messaging service Hike. It’s not clear at the moment if WeChat Pay will be integrated with the main app, or have any messaging capabilities.
thenextweb.com
