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BharatPe, an online payment system, has moved all of its communication with merchants to WhatsApp since February 1. All transaction notifications, OTPs, day-end balances and loan balances will be delivered through BharatPe’s WhatsApp number, said the company in a press release.
The merchants using BharatPe will receive both SMS and WhatsApp notifications for two weeks. Eventually, in line with the read rate, the app will segment the merchant base into ‘WhatsApp’ and ‘SMS’ customers.
‘ India runs on WhatsApp’
The company is always on the lookout for what makes the merchant’s life easier, said Ashneer Grover, co-founder and CEO, BharatPe. “India runs on WhatsApp. It is but natural for us to communicate through WhatsApp with our merchants, as we engage with them deeper for all their financial needs.”
According to the CEO, click-through rates in WhatsApp communication are 15-20 times better than SMS. It also establishes credibility as it is a two-way servicing channel, against SMS, which is a one-way push.
Why WhatsApp?
According to Grover, WhatsApp is a strategic move for BharatPe as all the other players, such as Paytm, PhonePe and GooglePay, are not likely to move to themessaging app. This will help the company tap better into the consumer business on UPI and emerge as the leader in the segment, he believes. “It’s a conflict that BharatPe intends to exploit to improve its proposition. BharatPe is likely to be the biggest client for WhatsApp in India by volume,” added Grover in the release.
BharatPe was co-founded by Grover and Shashvat Nakrani in 2018.It launched India’s first UPI interoperable QR code and the first ZERO MDR payment acceptance service, according to the release. The homegrown online payment start-up is currently serving over 30 lakh merchants pan India.
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