WhatsApp Payments is now available in beta in India for select Android smartphones and iPhones, bringing another digital payment option to the country. The new WhatsApp payment feature is very convenient and is likely to have a huge user base in the country due to the huge popularity of the app. Furthermore, since it is UPI-based, funds will be deposited directly into your bank account, eliminating the need for mobile wallets and other similar financial instruments. Not sure how to pay with WhatsApp? Here’s everything you need to know to get started.
How to get WhatsApp payments instantly
As we said earlier, the WhatsApp payments feature is currently rolling out to select users in India. First, make sure you’re running the latest version of the app – v2.18.41 for Android and v2.18.22 for iPhone at the time of filing this report. Open any WhatsApp chat and see if you see the new Payment method subtitles under set up. If you do, great, you can now use WhatsApp’s UPI-based payments feature. If not, you have no choice but to wait.
How to add a bank account for WhatsApp Payment
Here’s how to add your bank account to WhatsApp and start using payments:
- Go to set up -> Payment method Within WhatsApp.
- exist bank account subtitle, select Add new account options.
- tap Accept and continue If you agree to these terms.
- Click Verify via SMS And follow the prompts to send a text message to start the linking process.
- On the next screen, select the bank whose account you want to add.
- If you have an account (or accounts) associated with the number you just texted, you will be shown the account (or accounts) at that bank.
- If all goes well, you will see UPI setup completed Screen.
You can repeat these steps to add multiple bank accounts to WhatsApp. If you’ve added multiple accounts, you can designate one of them as the primary account (by default, it’s the first account you added).
How to send money via WhatsApp Payments
You have to remember that the WhatsApp payments feature only works if the recipient has a bank account set up in WhatsApp – send this guide to your friends and family to help them get started! You can also send money to individual group members in a group chat, if they have the Make a Payment option enabled. Additionally, you cannot make payments to verified business accounts such as BookMyShow or MakeMyTrip as the service is peer-to-peer only (i.e. person-to-person).
Here’s how to send your first (and subsequent) payments via WhatsApp:
- Open the chat room of the WhatsApp contact you want to send money to.
- On Android, click the Attach button. If you are using an iPhone, select the plus button.
- To send money, simply click “Make a Payment” and enter the amount you want to send. If desired, you can also add comments to the message.
- To authorize a payment, simply enter the UPI PIN of the bank account you are trying to send money to.
- Once money is sent, the amount (and text note, if any) will appear as a message as part of the conversation.
WhatsApp payment options can be found under attachments in chats
As you can see above, the process is very simple and can be completed in just a few clicks. If you want to switch between accounts, just click on your bank account when sending money and you’ll see a list of linked accounts to switch to.
WhatsApp will maintain a log of all your transactions – the funds you send and the funds you receive – using Payment method options under set up. To check the logs, just go to set upclick Payment method and select View history options.
This is WhatsApp’s first foray into the digital payments space, which has been dominated by Paytm in India. The Facebook-owned app has yet to officially announce the feature, and it remains in beta mode so far, meaning only a fraction of its more than 200 million users currently have access to it. Google’s Tez, Paytm’s Inbox and numerous UPI services managed by banks themselves make it very easy to transfer money to each other.
Disclosure: Paytm’s parent company One97 is an investor in technology shout.​
