Tag: Walmart

  • WhatsApp rolls out payment services in India

    WhatsApp rolls out payment services in India

    WhatsApp began testing its payment services in India with one million users in 2018, and now they are rapidly expanding the feature to capture the world’s second-largest economy.

    The Facebook-owned company said on Friday that it is rolling out payments in ten regional languages in the latest stable version of WhatsApp on Android and iOS.

    The company made the announcement when National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the body that runs the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) system, approved to roll out the feature in the Indian market.

    Like Google, Samsung and several other firms, WhatsApp has built its payments service in collaboration with large banks in India.

    NPCI said WhatsApp, which has accumulated over 400 million users in India, can expand payments to its users in a “graded-manner”, and to start with, it can only roll out the payments service to 20 million users and has to work with multiple banking partners.

    WhatsApp said that they are already working with leading banks like ICICI, HDFC, Axis, Jio Payment, and the State Bank of India.

    Google and Walmart are currently dominating the mobile payments market in India; together they have almost 80% of the UPI market share.

    UPI’s popularity has diminished the relevance of several firms in India, including SoftBank and Alibaba-backed Paytm that spent years building mobile wallets. Unlike UPI apps, mobile wallets are not interoperable with other mobile wallets and levy a small fee to consumers.

    “With UPI, India has created something truly special and is opening up a world of opportunities for micro and small businesses that are the backbone of the Indian economy. India is the first country to do anything like this. I’m glad we were able to support this effort and work together to help achieve a more digital India. I want to thank all our partners who’ve made this possible. When people can access financial tools, they’re more empowered to support themselves and others or start a business. Long term, we need more innovation that gives people control over their money, and making payments easier is a small step that can help,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Facebook, in a video posted on Friday.

    Facebook itself has made a big push in e-commerce in the past year. And if WhatsApp gains traction with payments, it could open more avenues for its parent firm.

  • Walmart to keep selling guns despite recent shootings at its store

    Walmart to keep selling guns despite recent shootings at its store

    Despite two deadly shootings at its stores in less than a
    week, American retail giant Walmart has no plans to stop selling guns and
    ammunition, Agence France-Presse (AFP)
    has reported.

    A man opened fire with an assault rifle at a Walmart in
    Texas on Saturday, killing 20 people, just four days after a disgruntled
    employee shot dead two coworkers and wounded a responding police officer at one
    of the massive chain’s stores in Mississippi.

    “We are focused on supporting our associates, our customers and the entire El Paso community,” reports quoted Walmart spokesperson Randy Hargrove as saying.

    Following the El Paso shooting, Walmart Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Doug McMillon posted a note on Instagram saying he “can’t believe” it was the second such in a week.

    “My heart aches for the community in El Paso,
    especially the associates and customers at store 2201 and the families of the
    victims,” he wrote.

    “I’m praying for them and I hope you will join
    me.”

    Walmart founder Sam Walton loved guns — so much so that the
    American gun manufacturer Remington named a hunting rifle model after him. But
    the retail giant maintains that its target audience is sport shooters and
    hunters.

    Walmart has made gun policy changes over the years, such as
    in 1993, when it stopped selling handguns.

    The company stopped selling semi-automatic rifles in 2015,
    and after the Parkland, Florida shooting in February 2018 — which saw 17
    people killed at a high school — Walmart raised the minimum age to buy guns
    and ammunition in its stores to 21.

    Additionally, “Walmart goes beyond federal law
    requiring all customers to pass a background check before purchasing any
    firearm,” said Hargrove.

    He also noted that all new Walmart employees are required to
    complete an active shooter training program, which they then must pass on a
    computer four times a year.

    But since it is the largest retail chain in the United
    States, Walmart continues to attract criticism for its enduring stock of
    firearms.

    When the company tweeted it was “in shock” after
    the tragedy in El Paso, many Twitter users replied: “Stop selling
    guns.”