Hike launches wallet and recharge services

Indian messaging app Hike has rolled out Hike Wallet on Tuesday, which will allow users to transfer money instantly.

The company says that with more than 100 million registered users currently on Hike Messenger, this launch makes Hike the largest UPI-based platform in India overnight. Yes Bank is the banking partner enabling Hike to launch UPI and the Wallet. UPI stands for Unified Payments Interface, launched by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in August last year to accelerate the adoption of digital payments in the country.

The Hike wallet-powered by Yes Bank-will allow free and instant bank-to-bank transfer via unified payments interface (UPI), free and instant money transfer via wallet and recharge right from the app, Hike Messenger founder and CEO Kavin Bharti Mittal said.

"Over the last six months, we have been working to bring a brand new experience to our users with one question in mind-How do we take all the things that users love about Hike and make it even better? Hike 5.0 is our most ambitious step in that direction till date," he added.

The hike is the first in India to launch payments facility on a messaging platform. It has also improved the user interface as well as added new features to the camera on the app.

Meanwhile, the company also launch Hike 5.0, an all-new visually delightful, unique, social experience.

"Over the last 6 months, we've been working to bring a brand new experience to our users with one question in mind - How do we take all the things that users love about Hike and make it even better? Hike 5.0 is our most ambitious step in that direction till date," said Kavin.

The company has also brought back Timeline in its original form.Users can now post text, photos, and videos on their Timeline, in addition to Stories that disappear in 24 hours. Further, Hike has reduced the size of its app to 25MB.