Meta Platforms launches WhatsApp bill payments in India with 22,722 billers

Meta just turned WhatsApp into a utility bill counter. The company launched a bill payments feature in India that connects users to 22,722 registered billers across 30 categories, from electricity and water to loans, insurance, and credit card payments. The feature integrates with Bharat Connect, India’s centralized bill payment system (formerly known as BBPS), and will roll out gradually to Android and iOS users over the coming weeks. For a platform with over 500 million users in India alone, that’s a lot of people who might never open a separate payments app again. From chat app to financial hub WhatsApp’s evolution in India has been deliberate and methodical. The company introduced prepaid mobile recharges back in April 2026, testing the waters for broader financial services. Bill payments represent a much larger surface area: 30 categories of essential services that virtually every Indian household deals with on a recurring basis. Users can manage multiple accounts per provider, meaning a single person can track and pay bills for different family members or properties without switching between apps. Payment methods include UPI as well as credit and debit cards, giving users fle...