NEW DELHI: Messaging giant WhatsApp plans to launch its first payment service this year in India, its biggest market with 400 million users, the company said Friday.
The Facebook-owned firm has tested the service with about one million people over the past year. But a commercial launch has been on hold while it waits for approval from India’s banking regulator.
“WhatsApp Payments will make it as easy to pay someone on WhatsApp as it is to send a message,” the company’s global head Will Cathcart said in a statement.
“We can’t wait to provide this service to our users across India this year,” he added.
India would be the first country to get WhatsApp payments, but Cathcart did not say whether the authorities have given final approval.
He said such services were critical to accelerating financial inclusion in India and bringing millions more into the country’s fast-growing digital economy.
India is one of the world’s quickest-growing major economies, with tens of millions already using online transactions.
Once launched, WhatsApp will compete with local digital payment firms Paytm and Phonepe and global behemoths like Amazon Pay and Google Pay.
WhatsApp, which has an estimated 1.5 billion users around the world, has been roiled in controversy in India over data storage and privacy.
India has insisted that technology companies store data on Indians in the country, something WhatsApp has resisted so far for its messaging platform.
The Reserve Bank of India, that regulates the country’s financial system, has also made it mandatory to store payment-related data in India.
WhatsApp has insisted that its payment services in India will comply with the central bank norms.
WhatsApp to launch digital payments service in India
WhatsApp to launch digital payments service in India
- “WhatsApp Payments will make it as easy to pay someone on WhatsApp as it is to send a message”
Egypt’s Sawiris proposed as adidas chairman after brand posts record 2025 results
JEDDAH: Adidas has nominated Egyptian billionaire and board member Nassef Sawiris as its next chairman, succeeding Thomas Rabe.
The move comes as the German sportswear group reported strong 2025 results, with revenue rising 13 percent to a record €24.8 billion ($29 billion) and net income from continuing operations surging nearly 70 percent under CEO Bjorn Gulden.
Rabe, 60, has chaired adidas’ supervisory board since 2020 after joining in 2019. He is also chairman and CEO of Bertelsmann Management SE and CEO of RTL Group.
Cairo-born Sawiris, 65, is an investor and scion of Egypt’s wealthiest family, with an estimated net worth of $9.6 billion, according to Forbes. He runs OCI, one of the world’s largest nitrogen fertilizer producers, and oversees Orascom Construction.
His holdings include nearly 6 percent of adidas through his investment vehicle NNS.
Sawiris’ appointment is subject to shareholder approval at the May 7 annual general meeting. The supervisory board has also proposed extending Gulden’s contract to the end of 2030, following the turnaround he has led since early 2023.
“Following the Annual General Meeting, the Supervisory Board intends to elect Nassef Sawiris as Chairman of the Supervisory Board. He is to succeed Thomas Rabe as Chairman, whose term of office will end as planned at the close of the upcoming Annual General Meeting,” adidas group said in a statement.
“With Nassef Sawiris, the Supervisory Board will win an experienced entrepreneur and investor as Supervisory Board Chairman. Nassef has already accompanied adidas for many years as a Supervisory Board member and has contributed significantly to the strategic development of the company,” Rabe said.
He added that Sawiris’ significant shareholding in adidas through NNS underscores his strong and long-term commitment to the company and alignment with shareholder interests.
Sawiris, deputy chairman of the Supervisory Board since 2025, expressed his delight at the nomination, emphasizing that with vast opportunities in such an attractive industry, it is especially important for him to actively help shape adidas’s future alongside his colleagues and the executive board.
“I greatly appreciate the achievements of Bjorn and his team so far, and I am looking forward to continuing our close collaboration as we jointly guide adidas into its next chapter,” he said, extending thanks to Rabe for his long-standing leadership, the trustful collaboration, and his achievements for the company.
