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Feb 01 2022

Connecting a country at scale: WhatsApp in India

By Meta Careers
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Can you imagine working on technology that’s changing the way countries connect? Today more than two billion people around the world use WhatsApp from Meta to stay in touch with friends and family anytime and anywhere. In India alone, over 400 million people use WhatsApp to stay connected.
Sana M., Outsourcing Learning and Performance Lead, explains. “WhatApp is the one app the majority of people in India use, no matter their background,” she says. “My grandparents are a wonderful example—the only app they use on their phones is WhatsApp to get important information and communicate with family. Other people, such as those who live in low connectivity areas, are also able to stay connected because of WhatsApp.”
From using feedback to guide product decisions to launching strategic partnerships and introducing impactful new features—such as payments on WhatsApp—the teams at WhatsApp in India are tackling exciting new challenges at an unprecedented scale.
"Manesh sitting in a desk chair while working from home."
Manesh working from home.

Payments: Empowering financial inclusion for everyone

Launching payments on WhatsApp in India marked a major milestone for WhatsApp, bringing the company significantly closer to its goal of accelerating economic empowerment and financial inclusion across India.
“Our goal is to empower people with simple, safe and reliable access to payments and financial services,” Manesh M., Head of Payments, explains. “Since launch, we’ve seen, first-hand, how impactful this technology can be for people.”
Uncovering new use cases for WhatsApp’s payments feature—from home entrepreneurs, chefs and remote services to small shop owners with no permanent storefronts—has provided valuable learnings and insights for the team. They’re currently focused on introducing additional features to simplify the experience while also thinking about new every day payment categories.
“Our vision and purpose is to onboard the ‘next 500 million’ to the digital payments ecosystem in India,” Manesh says. “And we will continue to build on the payments business for customers across the country. This will be a game-changer in providing empowerment and financial inclusion at national scale. We’re at the forefront of the next wave of digital payments adoption, and we have an incredible opportunity to make a meaningful contribution in this space.”
"Sana standing in front of the WhatsApp logo at the Meta office."
Sana enjoying a day at the Meta office in Menlo Park, California.

Customer Operations: Helping people unlock the power of WhatsApp

People are at the heart of everything the Customer Operations team does, empowering connectivity and community across the country. “WhatsApp is the major connectivity tool in India, and we want each person who uses it to feel like WhatApp is made for them,” Sana says.
From sharing user feedback with cross-functional teams, such as Engineering, to working closely with the Product team to make key decisions, the Customer Operations team plays an important role in enhancing the experience of WhatsApp. “Our team has regional and global insights from people who use WhatsApp, which helps improve our product. We hear about experiences directly from customers and that makes for a truly unique position to drive impact.”
She continues: “This is empowering, because you get to play a real part in shaping someone’s experience. I’ve always felt most inspired when doing work that touches people’s lives in a meaningful way. So for me, working on WhatsApp aligns perfectly with my bigger life mission and gives me a strong sense of purpose.”
Looking ahead to the future, Sana sees an abundance of new opportunities. “I joined the team as a learning solutions architect, and immediately saw the opportunity to help our team evolve in ways that will truly make a difference, like our work on payments for example. It’s our job to help people in India understand what they can really do and accomplish with WhatsApp. For many, our technology is life-changing. Knowing this inspires me each day.”

Partnerships—Business Messaging: Connecting people with businesses across India

Ravi Garg., Director, Partnerships—Business Messaging, is driven by the meaningful impact WhatsApp creates across India. “People are using WhatsApp to do so much more than just personal messaging,” he explains. “In addition to using the platform for payments, they rely on our technology for everyday life—whether it’s for paying daily bills, interacting with their bank, booking a cab, buying tickets or even ordering groceries.”
Solving problems for millions of people using WhatsApp across India calls for keeping a pulse on what’s happening across the country. Ravi and his team collaborate with both internal teams and external businesses to bring new ideas to life. “We drive real change through our work with the WhatsApp business platform,” he explains. “Our focus is always on the people who use WhatsApp and what they need. Through this lens, we’ve been able to do things like work with local utility companies to help people get gas-connections, pay electricity bills, buy or renew insurance, and shop for their favorite products—all in a few clicks on WhatsApp. We’re constantly thinking about new and interesting use cases, how we can evolve beyond what’s possible now, and building for the future.”
Ravi credits his team’s diversity and highly collaborative nature as key factors in their success. “It’s so important that we have people from different parts of India and the world, with diverse experiences and skills, to bring in fresh perspectives,” he says. “Having diversity of thought empowers us to deliver the best experience for our customers through our products. We also work closely with cross-functional teams—such as Support, Legal, Communications and Trust & Safety—to ensure our partners get everything they need.”
He continues, “The landscape has changed so much in just a few years, and we have a tremendous opportunity to reach more than a billion people in India. From building a strong partner ecosystem, and empowering businesses to working in new verticals-such as commerce and education, there’s still so much exciting work for us to do.”

The WhatsApp India team is growing

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