Bengaluru: Meta Platforms’ decision to invest $900 million in Indian fintech company Cred and appoint its founder, Kunal Shah, to lead WhatsApp globally has sparked fresh discussion about the social media giant’s long-term ambitions for the messaging platform. Industry observers believe the move could mark a renewed effort by Meta to transform WhatsApp from a communication tool into a comprehensive digital ecosystem offering a range of services, including payments, commerce and financial products.
Meta announced this week that it will acquire a 20 per cent stake in Bengaluru-based Cred, a fintech platform known for rewarding users who pay their credit card bills on time. As part of the deal, Cred founder and Chief Executive Officer Kunal Shah will join Meta and take charge of WhatsApp, one of the company’s most important products.
The development is particularly significant because India is WhatsApp’s largest market, with more than 500 million users. While the platform dominates messaging, Meta has struggled to replicate the success it has enjoyed in social networking and advertising when it comes to payments and financial services. The partnership with Cred is seen as an attempt to unlock new opportunities for engagement and monetisation.
Analysts suggest that Meta may be reviving the concept of a “super-app,” a single platform that allows users to communicate, make payments, shop online, order food, book travel, access financial services and consume entertainment. Such models have been highly successful in Asia, particularly China, where Tencent’s WeChat and Ant Group’s Alipay have become deeply integrated into daily life. Similar ecosystems have also emerged in Southeast Asia through platforms such as Grab and GoTo.
Despite India’s rapid digital transformation, no company has yet succeeded in building a dominant super-app. Several large business groups, including Reliance’s Jio, the Tata Group and the Adani Group, have explored the concept but have struggled to achieve widespread adoption across multiple services.
Meta’s interest in expanding WhatsApp’s role in India is not new. Over the past decade, the company has experimented with various strategies to deepen its presence in the country’s digital economy. Its controversial Free Basics initiative faced regulatory resistance, while subsequent efforts focused on integrating payments into WhatsApp. However, the platform was unable to gain significant ground in India’s booming Unified Payments Interface (UPI) ecosystem due to regulatory hurdles and intense competition.
Although restrictions on user onboarding for WhatsApp Pay were lifted in late 2024, the service remains a relatively minor player in the UPI market. India processed a record 23 billion UPI transactions last month, yet WhatsApp reportedly accounts for less than one per cent of that volume. Rivals such as Google Pay and PhonePe continue to dominate the space.
Cred’s appeal to Meta extends beyond its payments capabilities. The company has built a strong reputation among affluent and digitally active consumers. Founded by Shah, a philosophy graduate from Mumbai, Cred positioned itself as an exclusive platform by targeting individuals with high credit scores. This strategy helped create a premium user base and enabled the company to capture a substantial share of India’s credit card payment market. Today, Cred reportedly processes more than 40 per cent of the country’s credit card bill payments.
Shah’s appointment is being viewed as a strategic move aimed at leveraging his understanding of consumer behaviour and digital engagement. Supporters argue that his experience in building loyalty-driven products could help WhatsApp evolve into a broader commercial platform while maintaining user trust.
However, the deal has also raised concerns among some critics regarding data privacy and the growing influence of large technology companies in financial services. While Cred has stated that user data will not be shared with Meta, questions remain about how digital platforms can balance personalisation, commercial expansion and consumer protection.
