WhatsApp Payment - Now Pay While Chatting

WhatsApp Payment - Now Pay While Chatting

Since Google entered into payment business through its completely Indian offering "Tez"; a buzz started about WhatsApp plan to add payment feature in the chat.

We all read many news articles that Facebook is testing payment feature for their chat service "WhatsApp".  However no clarity was given by the tech giant for long. Many a times, users posted few screenshots about beta testing but no news on its launch date.

Finally, last week we got news that "WhatsApp" is rolling out UPI based payment feature for selected users & whole social networking space flooded with posts regarding the same. I also read many technology news articles & was really happy to be one of the earliest selected users. Since this feature is based on Indian governments UPI interface it is available only in India.

UPI is now a widely-used digital payments system developed by NPCI (consortium of Indian Banks).

How to get it?

WhatsApp is rolling out this feature to its users phase wise hence all of you will not get it instantly however you will get it for sure once they implement this payment feature for all the Indian users. Just to check if you are amongst those lucky users then simply update Whatsapp version on your device. Mostly 2.18.41 on Android & 2.18.21 for IOS platform.

Once updated open the  app. Now from main screen open "More options" or "Menu" tab & open "Settings" from the list. In the settings page if you see "Payments" then you are amongst few users like me. Not to worry if this option is not there then it will come very soon on your device. Some news suggest that when someone having “Whats App” payment feature  tries to pay using the same it automatically comes to the selected contact however not sure about this behavior.

Setting up payment details

I am an Android user hence details given are applicable for Android devices.  If you have "Payments" option under "Settings" tab then just open it.  Now you will run through a series of steps:

You will read an option called "Add Account".  Accept "Terms & conditions" from "Whatsapp" to go ahead. On the next screen you will have to select your desired bank from the list. Please note, your mobile number should be registered against your bank account to avail the UPI facility.

In my case I selected "HDFC" & moved to next screen, UPI server confirmed my number & I got list of 2 bank accounts registered to my mobile with HDFC. Here you will have to select the account which you wish to use for your UPI payment; you can add more accounts for different banks later if you wish to. After selecting a bank account, I quickly got a message saying that "Set up is complete",

Wow! Surprising right? Hold on, since I am an existing UPI user, my configurations are already there with banks including UPI pin hence it was quick for me. If you are configuring UPI first time then there will be more steps like, OTP, enter your debit card details including card number & expiry date, etc. Once this information is authenticated from bank servers then you will have to set your UPI pin. Few banks have 4-digits & few supports 6 digits pin hence it’s better to confirm with your bank's official site. Once you configure your UPI pin then you are all set to go. All these steps are highly accessible with a built-in screen reader talkback hence not to worry if you are a person with vision impairment.

 

Money transfer through chat window

Once payment set up is complete then you can transfer/receive money in your WhatsApp contacts. Yes, of course they will have to finish the set up in their app.  That is both of you who wish to transact need to have WhatsApp configured for UPI payment.

Now you can open any of your contacts chat & tap on "Attach" button. you will find here an additional option called "Payment".  Just tap on the same to open the payment screen. This screen interface is very simple & user-friendly. Your primary UPI linked account is listed in the dropdown, next is a text box for entering amount & then next text edit for payment remark. Just enter the amount you wish to transfer & key in payment remark for reference. Now hit submit this will open the UPI pin input, just enter your UPI pin which you have configured for your account.   One important tip for screen reader users is on the UPI transaction pin entry screen (from NPCI) there are two unlabeled buttons. All number buttons 0 to 9 are spoken. Left to number "0" is erase button and right side of number "0" is a "Proceed / enter” button.  So to click on enter button swipe right once you are on 0.  Talkback will speak unlabelled button.  This is your Enter / proceed button.   

So just hit on the same & you’re done. Yes, that's it, amount will be transferred to your contact instantly.  The whole process will not take more than a minute.

Final verdict

India has the world's largest number of WhatsApp users, with 2 crore people using the app daily hence this payment option will surely give a big boost to digital payment movement in our country.  After using this for last few days, I can say that configuration & transfer process is really simple & user friendly. As it is not an exclusive payment app by Whatsapp like Google Tez, transfer using VPA & IFSC code is not available However due to its largest user base in India this new payment feature will surely become popular. I am sure lots of corporate guys will use “Whats App”  group chat for fixing their next team dinner & transferring contributions in same chat window.

   So let’s get going and now send digital payments to your family and friends like you would send a photo or file or any other attachment.

Happy chatting and happy paying!