WhatsApp India head Abhijit Bose voiced confidence its delayed payments service would finally be launched commercially by the end of this year, The Economic Times reported.

In an interview primarily focused on its business services, WhatsApp’s regional chief said he remained hopeful its long-awaited cash transfer service would be available in 2019.

He added the addition of payments to its platform would remove friction for business users of the app.

WhatsApp began beta-testing its payment service for the Indian market in February 2018 and has reportedly been on the verge of a launch several times before running into regulatory issues.

In addition to issues directly related to payments it has faced problems with the country’s authorities about its core messaging service.

Since beginning its pilot, India’s mobile payment market has become increasingly crowded with several major players entering including Google, Hike and Amazon. This is in addition to long-term sector rivals such as Paytm.

Despite facing issues introducing the service in India, the company is reportedly in talks on launching payments on WhatsApp in other markets.

In May, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of WhatsApp parent Facebook, announced the company planned to launch cash transfer in a number of countries in 2019.