Manesh Mahatme, who was Amazon Pay executive, has been appointed as WhatsApp’s Head of Payments in India. WhatsApp is a Facebook-owned messaging platform.
A statement from the company on June 28 disclosed that Mahatme will be entrusted on enhancing the payments experience for the users. He will also be responsible for scaling the service offering across the country.
On work front, Manesh Mahatme posses a 17 years of experience in the digital financial services and payments across CitiBank, Airtel Money and Amazon. Before being appointed as WhatsApp, Head of Payments in India, Mahatme worked for seven years in Amazon Pay as the Director and Board member of Amazon Pay India. At the Amazon Pay, he headed product, engineering and growth teams. According to reports, he was also instrumental in building and scaling the payment experience and platform for Amazon India’s marketplace business.
On the educational front, Manesh Mahatme graduated from BITS Pilani (Electronic Engineering) and from SP Jain, Mumbai (Management).
Abhijit Bose, Head of WhatsApp in India on the appointment expressed, “Manesh has been one of the key innovators driving the growth of digital payments in India over the last decades and his experience will help us maximize the impact and sale of payments on WhatsApp.” He further elaborated that WhatsApp is capable enough to digitally empower people across various segments and support the Government of India’s efforts to drive financial inclusion through UPI and digital payments.
Mahatme after his appointment voiced, “Payments on WhatsApp is uniquely placed to be a significant partner in the country’s growth agenda by making digital payments accessible to users across the length and breadth of India.” Furthermore, he expressed that he is super excited to be a part of this growth story.
