Facebook-owned Wattsab is in talks with several Indonesian digital payment companies to offer its own payment service and send money in a bid to tap the country's fast-growing e-commerce sector, a Reuters report said.
Indonesia may become the second country in the world to get such a service from WhatsApp, where Pay as you go awaiting regulatory approval in India, the largest market in terms of the number of users, which was delayed due to local data storage rules.
Unlike in India - where WhatsApp plans to offer direct digital payment - the service will simply serve as a platform in Indonesia that supports payments through local agents due to stringent licensing laws.
According to Reuters, the Indonesian model could become a model for the application of WhatsApp in other emerging markets to circumvent laws for foreign investors who create their own digital portfolios.
With 260 million people and Southeast Asia's largest economy, Indonesia is one of the world's top five markets for WhatsApp, with more than 100 million users.
Indonesia's e-commerce industry is expected to triple to $ 100 billion by 2025, but the country has one of the most stringent digital payment systems in the region.
WhatsApp is in talks with several digital payment companies, including transportation services company Guo Jake and mobile payment services company Dana, backed by Chinese financial company and startup UFO, owned by Indonesia's Libo Group.
The plan to enter the Indonesian market comes after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced earlier this year that WhatsApp's e-payment service will be rolled out in some countries.
"We are looking to bring digital payments to more countries. WhatsApp is in talks with financial partners in Indonesia about payments, but the talks are still in the early stages and we have nothing to share now," a Facebook spokeswoman told Reuters.
The service was scheduled to start at the end of 2019, but is expected to be delayed for months, because WhatsApp does not want to launch in Indonesia before India.