Meta taps fintech founder Kunal Shah to lead WhatsApp's next phase

Meta announced on Tuesday evening that fintech entrepreneur Kunal Shah will take charge of WhatsApp, after the company invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the venture he founded. The appointment is being seen as a sign that Meta wants to push WhatsApp beyond messaging and turn it into a platform with broader economic functions.

Shah is described as a serial founder who created Cred and built business models based on incentives and consumer behavior. Meta believes that background will help him tackle the challenge of turning WhatsApp's massive user base into a business growth engine.

His main task will be to encourage users to carry out financial actions and purchases through WhatsApp, in a model similar to systems that have succeeded in several Asian markets. Some observers question whether that approach fits a platform of WhatsApp's scale, while others think he can handle the business and regulatory complexity involved.

The move comes as many messaging platforms expand into additional services. Meta sees it as part of WhatsApp's ongoing development and chose Shah partly because of his years of experience in India, the app's largest user market.