Sachin Bansal lashes out at WhatsApp Pay, Amazon Pay

Flipkart and Navi founder Sachin Bansal hit out at WhatsApp Pay and Amazon Pay for their approach to the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), saying the U.S.-based companies have "not done justice" to UPI.

"People have spent money but they haven’t done justice to UPI whether you look at Amazon Pay, Flipkart’s early attempts, or WhatsApp Pay, none of them made UPI a core focus," Bansal said, as reported by Moneycontrol.

According to Bansal, these companies viewed the instant payment system as a secondary feature instead of a primary product. "On WhatsApp, it’s hard to even find where UPI is. On Amazon, it’s impossible to figure out where to go to use it. Everyone has just tried a bit of UPI as a side feature but we made it the front and centre of our business," he said.

Bansal's Navi is the fourth-largest UPI platform after Walmart-backed PhonePe, Google Pay and Paytm. With over 40% market share, PhonePe has the lion's share followed by Google Pay and Paytm. UPI operator National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) recently extended the deadline for third-party apps to comply with its 30% market share cap guidelines by two years to December 31, 2026 from December 31, 2024.

In February, Bansal stepped down as CEO of Navi Technologies and Navi Finserv as part of company restructuring. Bansal will continue to serve in the capacity of executive chairman of the Navi Group.

Navi Group announced the appointment of Rajiv Naresh as the CEO of Navi Technologies and Abhishek Dwivedi as CEO of Navi Finserv.

“Holding the position of Executive Chairman also allows me to dedicate my efforts to guiding the overall vision of Navi Group, while Rajiv and Abhishek will lead their respective businesses with a continued commitment to innovation and excellence,” said Bansal.

“This restructuring is a strategic milestone that enables us to sharpen our focus on long-term growth. Both Rajiv and Abhishek have played key roles in our growth and I am confident that we will continue on this upward trajectory as they assume their new roles,” he said.

The restructuring, including leadership transitions, is a strategy aimed at scaling operations and focussing on long-term growth, the company said. Bansal will focus on Navi’s long-term strategic vision, exploring expansion opportunities, steering fund-raising and M&A efforts and enhancing compliance and risk management across the group. He will also be involved in driving Navi’s tech by leveraging the innovations happening in tech and data science, while closely guiding the professional management team led by Rajiv and Abhishek, in operating the respective businesses.

Once the proposed changes are implemented, all lending businesses will be headed by Abhishek, while Rajiv will focus on the non-lending businesses within the Navi Group. Navi Group has rapidly grown into a multi-faceted organisation offering tech-first solutions across financial services including lending, payments, asset management, and general insurance.

In October 2024, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)ordered four non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) to cease and desist from sanction and disbursal of loans, effective from close of business of October 21, 2024. The non-banks lenders included former Bansal-led Navi Finserv.